a few new tricks
by immo
Summary: [complete]Wherein Shego comes back after disappearing for 3 years. Where did she go? And what did she do during that time? Kim is determined to find out! SHOUJO AI FEMMESLASH within. I might as well...
1. a few new tricks

a few new tricks

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - PG-13 for now?

notes: Beware, this is unedited! A little bit of Kim Possible goodness, shall we? This sounds like a continuation... but I know how my continuations go... --; I'm sorry guys. I'm just really really lazy and I start things that I don't finish. But hey, enjoy! I don't know where this fic is heading and I'll prolly be re-doing this... I got a basic idea but not really. I go with the flow! Enjoy!

* * *

Violence. 

That was all they knew when they encountered each other.

It was in their very nature to fight each other. One was the good girl. Kim Possible, of the-can-do-anything variety. And the other was always the bad girl. The baddest of the bad. The kind that made even villains cringe.

Always the bad girl. She played it so well, who could blame her?

Two opposites.

Perpetually the good girl, Kim didn't have an evil bone in her body.

Shego went out of her way to cause mayhem.

So they had their conflicts.

The kind of conflicts that were mandatory. There was never an off day when it came to the two. It was expected of Kim to drop everything for Shego.

It was like they yearned for that physical contact, that battle of reflexes and wits in a clash of fists and fury.

That physical contact left, when suddenly, Shego seemed to disappear off the planet.

And just as suddenly, returned.

* * *

"Seriously, Shego. Stealing from a retail store!" Kim ducked a hastily thrown mannequin and then flipped away just in time to avoid a vicious swipe at her head. Monique had evacuated quickly ("Best way to help you girl is to make room for you. You a pro!" Monique shouted back to Kim as she ran away, "You go girl!") while Ron ran around frantically nearby, trying to help... but not really. His main job when it came to Shego was to keep Drakken, 

Shego's employer, occupied. Since Shego was solo, his help wasn't really needed. He was just... distracting.

"Hey, did you see the pricetag on that?" Shego snapped. "You want me to SPEND my hard-earned money on THAT! It was a hankerchief with strings attached to it! Now THAT'S robbery!"

"Why can't you just shoplift quietly like the normal people!" Kim retorted with a kick at Shego's midsection. The green-eyed thief managed to block the foot with her arm, as her hands flared up in eerie green flames.

"Oh, PLEASE. When have I ever done things 'normally'." Shego sniffed, and aimed a jab at Kim's throat, which was hastily batted away. Shego was a living weapon. Not only was she extremely proficient in martial arts, but

she had those dangerous glowing green hands. To make matters worse, she was a quick learner. It seemed that every trick that Kim tried on Shego, Shego would learn how to counter it, if not at the time, then the next time they

fought. So basically, everything Kim knew, Shego wasn't far behind.

To say that Shego lagged just behind Kim was entirely false. While Kim might pull a quick one on Shego once in a while, there were just as many times that Shego beat the younger woman and managed to escape.

They were both on these invisible plateaus. If one managed to gain higher ground, that one would inevitably pull the other up. Equals.

But they hadn't seen each other in years. Around three, almost hitting four years. So the dance they danced was crude. But it had a familiar rythym they were slowly molding back into.

"--and I sincerely doubt the 'hard-earned' money part! You stole your money!" Kim picked up a mannequin and hefted it like a bat.

"I work for my money, Kimmie. I get paid to steal, so really, I'm just doing my job." Shego sneered, dividing her attention between the mannequin and the heroine. "Unlike you, I get paid to do the job I love."

"My people pay me!" Kim protested. Looking for just that opening, Shego blasted the mannequin-turned-weapon into oblivion.

"Yeah, with what? Rides to your next mission? That's pathetic!" The first hit was Shego's, as a well-aimed kick sent Kim flying. "Tuck and roll, Kimmie!"

The redhead hit some racks of clothes, sending them down along with her. Fortunately, said racks of clothes cushioned her fall.

"The best form of gratitude is the amount of numbers someone can squish into a paycheque for you!" Shego shouted at the jumble of clothes as Kim tried frantically to free herself.

"Hey! You!"

Shego clutched her head in pain as something hard hit her. A stapler. Shego snarled.

First hit on Shego went to Ron Stoppable.

"Yeah, you with the deadly glowing green hands! Yeah, I'm talking to you!" His false bravado was extremely transparent. Ron's freckly face went several shades whiter as Shego turned her smoldering gaze on him.

"Oh, you are so dead."

"Eyes where they should be, Shego."

Shego turned around, just in time to see Kim's smirk and a fist heading towards her face.

Shego - 1

Ron - er... 1

Kim - 1. Finally.

Shego stumbled backwards, glaring at the teenage heroine, her attention back to where it should be. On Kim. She should never had let her eyes wander from what was important.

"This, was what you were looking for?" Kim, when she was floundering through the pile of clothes, had left the fashion disaster(haha) with a casualty. A tiny green top that was basically a hankerchief with strings

tied to it. "Why don't you just make one at home!"

"I'm busy committing nefarious crimes, thank you very much." Shego placed a hand on her hip. Three years had really been a long time. Three years for Kim to graduate high school and start university. Of course, it was all home courses since her schedule was extremely erratic due to villainous plots that refused to work around her timetable(villains are so inconsiderate). Nearing the end of her teenage years, Kim had, excuse the corny phrasing,

blossomed from a girl to a beautiful and intelligent young woman who had a top gymnast's physique.

"But stooping to stealing? From a retail store?" Kim looked almost disgusted.

"Look at the pricetag, Kimmie! That's highway robbery!" Shego's green and black cat suit did nothing to hide the form underneath. Three years ago, she had been slim, sinewy and fit. Now her body looked harder, Kim could see

muscles sliding underneath the material of Shego's clothes. Where before, the costume had been a deceptive second skin that hid that athletic body well, now it hugged Shego's body tightly, defining muscles, curves and telling whoever looked at her that she knew how to use her body to HURT YOU. It was like watching the play of muscle underneath a panther's coat.

Still keeping an eye on the indignant villainess, Kimmie glanced at the tag.

"$70! For THIS!"

"You see!" Shego pointed out. "Robbery!"

Kim looked torn. But she finally shook it off. "You still have to go to jail, Shego."

"Do not pass GO!" Ron added in. "Do not collect a hundred!"

"Yup yup!" Rufus, Ron's inseperable naked mole-rat, agreed.

"You'll have to beat me first, Kimmie." Shego crouched down into a battle-ready stance. "Maybe check out some of the moves I've learned since I last saw you."

"Where DID you go to?" Kim suddenly seemed to realize she hadn't seen the villainess for the longest time. Caught up in the heat of the moment, she had spotted the commotion in a clothing store and at the first flash of

green fire, had sprinted towards it automatically, adrenaline pumping through her veins.

Anything Shego sent off an immediate reaction in Kim Possible and vice versa. Like vinegar on baking powder. Like fire to gunpowder. Like sugar to a child. Like... like anything that would cause an immediate and volatile

reaction!

Yeah.

"I'm sooo glad you realized I was gone for a while," Shego said drolly, before launching into a furious attack that left Kim struggling. It was a different fighting style, a different technique, and it took everything for Kim to block, dodge, and weave. Yet, it infuriated Kim that Shego seemed to be holding back and STILL landing punches. And it surprised her even more when Shego managed to sweep her feet out from under her in a move that Kim

should have seen from a mile away.

The key words were 'should have' and 'but didn't'.

"Kim!" Ron shrieked and ran towards his friend. Shego watched the downed woman impassively, while Kim knelt on the floor, trying to catch her breath.

"Stay away from her!" Ron struck a martial arts pose, standing in front of Kim defensively. He was scared. This wasn't the first time Shego had gotten the better of Kim. But he had watched with magical monkey mysticism in the back of his mind. And that magic monkey had screamed with terror at the ease which Shego had flown from one move to the other almost effortlessly. In his eyes, Ron could see Shego's form in slow motion, every precise attack... and Kim's valiant but doomed to fail struggle against this deadly thief.

"Move, Ron." Kim's voice was quiet, full of determination.

Ron cast a glance behind his shoulder, nervously trying to keep Shego in his line of sight.

"But Kim--"

"MOVE!" Kim pounded her fist against the floor in a burst of temper that Ron had never ever seen before. Kim never lost her cool like this! Except for that one time with the moodulator... but this was Kim. Without the

moodulator. He was so stunned, that he staggered backwards a few steps, right into Shego, who pushed him away.

"Oh, did poor Kimmie make a boo-boo?" Shego mocked, leaning down slightly.

"How did you do that?" Kim asked. It was something that never happened. She couldn't find an opening. The control that was so carefully balanced between the two had tipped into Shego's cup.

"Do you want to know?" Shego asked sweetly.

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT!" Kim pounded her fists on the floor again, wildly, enraged at how Shego was dancing around the subject.

In a split second, Shego was in front of Kim, crouched down in front of her.

The redhead only had time to gasp in surprise before both her hands were caught in Shego's grip.

"Temper, temper, Kimmie." Shego's eyes burned with mischief. "Now... how do we ask for things?"

Her condescending tone grated on Kim's nerves.

"Kim!"

"Don't!" That one word stopped Ron in his tracks.

"How do we ask?" Shego's eyes hadn't left Kim's face. "Because if you don't ask me nicely, I won't give you what you want."

The fingers on her wrist tightened, and Kim let out a tiny cry of pain.

"Kim!" Rufus squeaked, and tried to rush out of Ron's pocket towards the redhead, but Ron's hand kept the rodent down. This was Kim's fight.

"How. Do. We. Ask?" Shego's green eyes bore into Kim's.Kim glared at Shego defiantly. Shego smiled, and leaned forward, pressing her lips against Kim's ear in a brief kiss, one that the struggling, but captive heroine could not refuse. Then the villainess let go of Kim and backflipped away from Kim gracefully. Picking up a couple of shopping bags she had left on the floor when she started causing ruckus, she smirked at the stricken heroine. As an after-thought, Shego picked up the small green top she had wanted and slipped it into one of her bags.

Then Kim watched as she left the ruined store.

* * *

"Come find me when you're ready to grovel, Kimmie." 

That was what she whispered so harshly as she pressed a hot kiss behind her ear that infuriated the redhead to no end.

Kim looked on dazedly, as police taped off the area. Monique had come back with the authorities, and now stood next to Kim, an arm around Kim's shoulders. Monique could tell something was wrong with Kim. And knowing better than to ask, she just held onto Kim silently.

Ron explained the situation to police, leaving out a few key details so nobody would worry. Everybody except for Kim's friends assumed Kim Possible would hunt down Shego and bring her in.

Though Ron really thought highly of Kim, he really didn't know if it would happen this time. This time, Shego had been on a totally different level. And Shego had been holding back. Where the two women had been equally

matched before, this time... Shego had left Kim behind.

* * *

endnote: comments are welcome, cuz, despite what people think... I don't know what I'm doing and your assurances keep me on my path! 


	2. Let's get ready to RRRUMBLE!

Let's get ready to RRRUMBLE!

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M!

mynotes: yeah for me. :D Don't blame me for not updating. I got banned from for a week for my digimon fanfiction. It had shoujoai themes between a digimon and her trainer, but goddamn, it had like ONE kiss on the cheek with it, some hand-holding and angst. I rated it a teen, and they banned me from posting anything new. Which was too bad since I had several chapters of this since I was on a roll. Oh well. Enjoy, guys, enjoy. I'm sloooowly adding to my Killings series. Slowly.

* * *

Kim sat in the women's locker room, head bowed, shoulders hunched, as she recounted her newest loss of self-control. Who knew that Shego could affect her like this?

She looked up miserable at the three good-sized dents to the locker in front of her. Thankfully, the locker had no owner. It just belonged to the gym.

'I'm a vandal,' She thought miserably, burying her face in her hands. She had gone to a gym she was a regular at to work out, having taken up kick boxing in her spare time. Kim would just hit the bag, do a little shadow boxing, work on the speed bag... things to keep her body in constant repetitive motion. It was therapeutic, and it kept her mind off of... her...

Kim Possible usually didn't fight because her reputation proceeded her. People knew better than to challenge the young woman, and if there was someone foolhardy enough to try to win the right to boast that they beat Kim Possible... well, challengers were quickly put in their place, without the redhead even breaking a sweat.

And today, there was one such challenger. A heavyweight boxer, who had rudely interrupted her workout.

"Yo, girly." His huge frame hovered over her as one of the old trainers had been spotting her while she was doing bench presses. "Girly, you might want to put that down in case you hurt yourself."

That comment stung her pride. Shego had already put a dent in it and Kim was extra sensitive to criticism since her encounter with Drakken's sidekick three weeks ago. She had even snapped at Ron when he had told her parents why he thought she was so down. And got it right on the money. Now everybody who had daily contact with her walked on eggshells.

So the comment about her strength really irked her. Kim had bristled and put the bar back on the rack, glaring at the large man.

"What did you say?" Her voice was thick with rage and she could barely manage to choke out the words.

The man, seeing that he had touched a nerve, flashed her an arrogant grin that showed off two perfect rows of teeth. "Said you weak, girly. Heard you were pretty hot and word gets around. You wanna spar?"

Kim's jaw had tightened into a grimace, and she had walked towards the ring without another word and jumped in. People gathered to watch the fight, as the opponents got into opposite ends of the ring to prepare.

The teenager was glad that she had worn gloves. Or else her bare knuckles would have done more damage to her challenger than she had already done.

Nobody was at her level. She beat grown men three times her size to whimpering pulps.

She pulled at the velcro tabs of her gloves, pulled her gloves off and threw them into her bag. Somewhere in the shower room, she was vaguely aware of the sound of dripping water and it slowly seemed to overwhelm the sound of the people outside...

Kim Possible faced off with the large caucasian man, who seriously needed a tan. He threw off his white robe, revealing what he was wearing underneath: green boxers with black stripes on the side. Kim felt another rush of irritation.

Shego's colours.

It was like waving red in front of a bull.

"I'll go gentle on you, girl." The man had said loudly, so other people could hear his boast. But most of the regulars at the gym had at one time or another seen contenders go up against the teenaged heroine. And go down. Hard.

Kim didn't bother to throw out taunts. She just put up her dukes and bounced on the balls of her feet, waiting grimly.

Taking off her tanktop, she exposed toned abdominal muscles, the kind that brought to mind the term 'washboard abs' and a simple black sportsbra. She walked to the fall length mirror set up in the locker room and looked at herself, took inventory.

Strands of red hair was getting loose from the ponytail she had put it in when she was working out and she brushed it out of her face.

A thin white scar across her side that was disappearing slowly. A memento from Shego from a fight five years ago.

Her hands ran up and down her arms, noting the play of strength underneath peaches'n'cream skin.

Kim ducked his first attack, avoided it easily as if he was moving in slow motion and brought her left leg up to knee him in the side before dancing away. Kim was going to work this one slowly. She watched as he approached again, this time, wary of her prowess. Her attack had been lightning quick, sharp and extremely painful. But he wasn't going to let a little girl show him up! He wasn't going to lose to her!

The upper half of her body was a work of art, marred only by Shego's mark. The lower part didn't slack either, as shapely muscular thighs ran down into smooth, muscled calves. Perfectly accompanying the top part of Kim. She was no Hercules, not even a Xena. Maybe a Gabrielle...

Kim was just toying with him now. A few vicious kicks, jabs into the midsection and uppercuts(she was too short to punch him in the face) later, and he was staggering. He was seriously regretting his remark on her strength. He could feel each blow ringing through his body, and even after half an hour of the intense exercise, the boxer could see that sweat barely dotted his opponent's forehead.

Running a finger along the light scar on her side, she shivered slightly. And felt oddly sorrowful that this battle scar would fade into nothing. Kim had borne it proudly for years. It had been an ugly long scar when Shego had scraped her side with a flaming fist. And she had beaten the other woman.

"Stop, Kim, STOP!" Several boxers had jumped into the ring to hold the furious woman back. Her opponent stayed in a fetal position until he was sure the young woman was far enough away for him to crawl/roll out of the ring into safety.

The redhead was breathing heavily, straining against the people holding her, battling against her own temper. The heavyweight should have just given up at the beginning! If he was going to fight like that, he might as well not fight at all! Everything had been so slow, and she could see his moves coming from a mile away. Had to wait for him to catch up to her speed, her time frame, before rewarding him with three quick punches and a kick.

He was holding her back. And she felt maddened by it.

"Sorry guys," She relaxed, went limp in their arms as the battle rage left her. "I got caught up in the moment."

"Its alright, Kim. Just calm down a bit." Someone patted her on the back, and they all had understanding looks on their face. Each one of them had had a time in their life when they've just been down or hit an obstacle, and the gym was one of the places they would come to vent frustration. All of the boxers had seen and recognized Kim's mood and let her alone.

"You just go and take a five," The owner of the gym patted Kim on the back. "Relax."

Kim stood under the showerhead and braced herself as a blast of cold water hit her full on and steadily increased in temperature as she turned the knob to hot slowly.

"Come find me when you're ready to grovel, Kimmie."

Kim watched tiny rivulets of water run off her body and into the drain, totally drained of emotions.

"Shego..." Kim was startled. The name that had escaped her lips echoed in the empty change room, louder than she thought it would be. And for some odd reason, she waited expectantly, as if just saying Shego's name would bring the girl into existence.

But of course, Shego didn't appear.

"Stupid." Kim turned off the shower and walked out of the shower room, wrapping a towel around herself, resolving to soak in a nice bubble bath that night. As she put on her clothes and slipped on her bra, she suddenly noticed something.

There was silence.

Usually, the noise from the gym, the sound of fists impacting on punching bags, the staccato rythym of the speed bag being hit would reach her ears. Usually, she would hear shouts from people sparring and trainers and coaches yelling at their charges.

But there was silence.

Kim Possible slipped into the relaxed-fit jeans she had chosen to bring, feeling thankful that she had, because she had a feeling the silence boded no good for her. She put on her black t-shirt and slipped into her K-Swiss shoes. Finally, feeling that she was as ready as she would ever be for a fight, she walked to the exit of the change room and opened the door with trepidition.

"Hey, Kimmie." Shego stood in the middle of the gym, hands on her hips. The gym-goers were lying around haphazardly on the floor.

"Sleeping gas," Shego waved her hand around the gym. "Don't worry about them. I was waiting out here for a while, you know? You took long enough in the shower."

"Shego." Kim looked around suspiciously, as if expecting a trap.

"Just me here." Shego smirked.

"What are you doing here?" Kim felt herself tensing again.

"I thought around this time you would come looking for me." Shego shrugged, still standing in the centre of the gym, not moving from her spot. "So I'm impatient. I came looking for you."

"Looking for another fight?" Kim walked towards Shego until she was only 5 feet away from the other woman.

"Looking to raise the stakes." Shego bared her teeth in a vicious grin. "Did it kill you when I beat you so easily?"

Kim's hands immediately clenched into fists and her face went red with outrage.

"I see." Shego saw Kim's reaction and smirked. "Would you like to know how I beat you?"

Kim's expression turned eager, and Shego laughed.

"Like I said, we'll up the stakes." Shego clapped her hands together and held them up to her lips, as if praying. "One match. Free for all. If you win--"

"--you teach me what you've learned." Kim completed Shego's sentence for her.

Shego raised an eyebrow. Then her face took on a ruthless expression. "Fine. But if I win, I own you for three years."

Kim opened her mouth to protest, but Shego cut her off. "You won't be asked to do anything criminal. I'm going off on a sabbatical to China. Nothing but wilderness. I need someone there with me."

"What about Drakken?"

Shego snorted at the question.

"Okay, fine, that was a stupid question."

There was a long silence.

"So?" Shego's eyes danced with glee, egging her on. Daring her. "Are you scared, Kimmie?"

"So not the drama." Was Kim's automatic reply as she looked at Shego with determination. Three years. That was a very long time. She was only eighteen years old. But the sting of her defeat by Shego three weeks ago was still fresh in her mind.

"Deal."

"You're not going to back out when I win, right?"

"I'm not going to lose to you and I don't make promises I don't intend to keep." Kim settled into a 'ready' position. "Lets go."

Shego smiled. "Good girl."

* * *

endnote: if there are any mistakes, feel free to tell me. And you BEST believe the Renamon/Rika story is gonna be back up as soon as I get back home and find it and upload it again. :( 


	3. Destination: China

Destination: China

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M!

mynotes: it has a direction! To where, you ask? I dunno!

* * *

Kim woke up to the feeling of being jostled about, and opened her eyes. 

"Good morning, sleeping beauty. You're onboard Air Shego." Shego joked. With a pair of aviator sunglasses, a bomber jacket and a pair of headsets on her head, she looked like she knew what she was doing. Looked like.

"How did I get here?" Kim moved her head, and winced at the pain. Then it all came back to her.

The fight in the gym. It had been the best she'd fought. She was in top physical condition and she held nothing back.

The last thing that she had remember was that she had lost. Frighteningly quick.

Looking out of the window of the private jet, her heart sunk as she felt the aircraft lifting off

"And we have lift off," Shego murmured. "Destination? China."

Now she was on a jet on the way to middle-of-nowhere, China.

Shego had apparently knocked her out, and when she had come to, she was sitting beside Shego.

"Seatbelts until we're at cruising altitude." Shego stated without looking at the teenage heroine. Kim noticed belatedly, that Shego had strapped her in.

"My bag?" Kim asked, after looking around.

Shego shook her head. "Didn't bring it."

"It had my clothes--"

"You're mine for three years." The sun gleamed off of Shego's sunglasses. "I take care of what's mine."

Kim Possible had been sure before that her heart could sink no further, but it did.

"You will work for me and do everything I say. I will cloth you and I will feed you." Shego said, as if running through a to-do list in her mind. "You will have daily tasks to complete, and its easier to explain when I show it to you..."

"This is crazy..." Kim interrupted, completely stunned by the turn of events.

"This is a bet you lost," Shego corrected her sharply. "Are you going to back out?"

They fell into silence.

"My parents--"

"--will figure out that you're not coming back."

Silence reigned in the cockpit again, and the only thing that could be heard was the sound of wind. Half-an-hour into the flight, Shego glanced over at Kim.

Oblivious to Shego's scrutinization, Kim had pulled up her knees to her chest and had her head buried in her arms. For a few seconds, Shego watched as the redhead's shoulders shook silently as she cried.

* * *

"Load up the car." 

They had landed after a good twelve hours of flight, with only Shego flying the plane. From the sky, Kim could see people eagerly awaiting the plane's landing, waving at the aircraft enthusiastically. She had fallen asleep after crying her heart out, and had awoken only when she had felt the plane's descent. The landing strip was just an empty field with neon orange pylons put up as markers to help the pilot land, which Shego did expertly.

As Kim did as she was told, she could see a whole bunch of people running towards the plane, and several others collecting the pylons. In the distance, she could see a village further out. From the plane, she remembered that on the other side of the village, the land was divided into squares of rice paddies that twisted and turned around valleys, reminding her very much of a snake's body...

"Ah, Shego, nihao!" A Chinese man dressed in jeans and an open short-sleeved shirt approached, grinned at the villainess. "Long time no see!"

"Cheung," Shego shook hands with the man, and he glanced expectantly at the redhead loading up the jeep. Shego shook her head. "Ni bu yao pa, ta shi wo ger pun yao. Ta shi, Kim."

"Ah, ni ger pun yao shi wo ger pun yao," The man's speech was slower, and had an accent that seemed familiar to Kim. He was nice enough, as he trotted over to Kim, who was struggling with a particularly heavy pack, and hefted it over his shoulder.

"Oh! No, I got that--"

"No problem!" The man grinned. "I'll take care of this for you."

"Let him." Shego shrugged. Kim was at a loss, as the villagers started helping to unload the plane.

An elderly woman parted from the sea of people, carrying a tiny wooden tub, followed by a couple of young children. They were carrying a larger woden tub between them, and they were positively squirming with glee when they saw the green and black clad woman.

"Shego, Shego!" Their chatter of Chinese overlapped each other, making what they were saying indiscernible.

"One at a time!" Kim looked over, watching in astonishment as the children dropped their load and ran to Shego, flinging themselves on the young woman. What was even more surprising was that Shego caught them in a hug, grinning happily.

"Po-po," Shego inclined her head respectfully to the old woman who was watching the scene with amusement.

Another stream of indescernible Chinese, as the old woman hugged the embarassed villainess close, her voice almost raising to a wailing level.

"Poor Shego," Cheung stopped beside Kim, who had paused to openly gawk at the scene. It was... strange. Kim never pegged Shego as someone who got along with children. Or be welcomed so warmly by a village.

"Cheung, is it?" Kim relaxed when Cheung smiled charmingly and shook her hand. "What is she saying?" Kim nodded towards the scene.

Cheung listened for a few seconds, then laughed. "Grandma Lo is saying that Shego isn't eating enough and its making her look like a drug addict."

Grandma Lo had captured Shego's face in both hand, and right now, was laughing as she stretched, pinched and contorted Shego's face. Shego, with her arms full of children, was helpless in the attack.

"Now Grandma Lo is saying that Shego's grown prettier and she's very happy to see her."

"So... why is she doing that to her?" Kim pointed out. Shego was trying to avoid Grandma Lo's chopping hand as she beat Shego across the head, cackling loudly as she did.

"Annoying Shego." Cheung said, amused. "Grandma Lo thinks its hilarious."

Shego, still holding the children--with more piling on--couldn't even run away. She turned to the side and caught Kim looking at her. Blushing furiously, Shego tried her best to shake the kids off. "What are you looking at!"

Everything was just too weird. Some of the woman had set down a blanket and were opening the mysterious wooden containers. Apparently, the containers were many-layered and were for carrying food, as dishes of food were taken out of the two wooden tubs, along with white buns, chopsticks, bowls of hot white milk among a bunch of other things.

"Time to eat," Cheung herded Kim to the blanket, and everyone sat down, talking animatedly.

"Here," Shego handed Kim a pair of chopsticks. She had gotten rid of the kids, but Grandma Lo was still nearby, talking a mile a minute while everyone that was listening to her laughed sporadically at what she would say.

"Po-po, no!" Shego's pale cheeks, red from earlier abuse, darkened a shade.

"Wo bu hui shuo ying yu," Grandma Lo shrugged. "Wo bu jee dao 'noooo!' "

"Quite spry for someone who's so ancient, huh?" Cheung was muching on a white bun cheerfully.

"I'm surprised Shego got such a huge welcome."

"Well--"

"Cheung!" Unbeknownst to Kim and Cheung, Shego had been listening in on the conversation quite attentively. "Shut up and eat."

A young child, carefully balancing a bowl of hot white soup in her hand, slowly and very carefully walked over to Kim. Her face was pale and pretty and she looked utterly adorable with two pigtails jutting from the sides of her head. Barely four years old, she kept her face serious as she gave her offering to the redhead.

"Oh, thank you." Kim took it with both hands. The child didn't leave, and just stood there expectantly, waiting for Kim to drink.

Kim sipped at the hot soup, and blinked.

"Sorry," She smiled at the young girl. "What is this?"

"Hot soya milk." Cheung explained, slurping his own bowl of soya milk.

"Oh," Kim sippd at it again. It was weird, but it was good after such a long journey by plane. The food hitting her belly suddenly reminded her of how hungry she was.

"Slow," Cheung laughed. "Slow."

Kim ate slower. When she was half-way full, she noticed that a lot of the villagers, especially the children, were looking at her oddly. Being one of the only two white people in a sea of Chinese people, she floundered helplessly, not knowing whether to turn to Cheung, or her arch-nemesis, whom she was having mixed feelings about.

"What?" Shego noticed Kim's lost look, and her furtive glances from Shego to Cheung.

Relieved that Shego had spoken up, Kim nodded her head to the little girl who had given her her soya milk, and was staring unabashedly at her.

"Why are they looking at me?"

"Ting Ting," Shego called out to the child. Obediently, the girl turned around and listened carefully to Shego's question.

"Ta ger tao fa shi hong!" Ting Ting blurted out excitedly. "Wo yao!"

Shego threw back her head and laughed and looked over at Kim, still laughing. "Watch out, Kimmie. They're after your hair."

"Wo yao!" Ting Ting stood in front of Kim and very forcefully made her demand.

"Ai, Ting Ting!" Cheung frowned. "Lay de lai mao le? Gnor mo gau lay hai hat yan meen cheen lay yiu gwai, meh? Lay mm ho gum yai ah."

It was very obvious to Kim that the child was being seriously rebuked by Cheung. Ting Ting's lower lip started to tremble after the scolding.

"Its alright, she's just a kid." Kim held open her arms to Ting Ting. "Come here."

Shyly, the little girl walked forward, and Kim pulled the girl into her lap. In that privileged spot, the girl twisted this way and that, looking up through a curtain of Kim's red hair, giggling happily, and reaching up to grab handfuls of it.

"Don't encourange them," Shego snorted. A bunch of other children had inched forward, and were casting furtive glances at their parents to get permission to investigate further. Their parents were alternatively giving their children stern glances while smiling apologetically at Kim.

"Its alright," Kim smiled at the children and motioned them forward.

That was all the permission they needed as, suddenly, Kim found herself mobbed.

"Told you so." Shego rolled her eyes.


	4. Cooking 101

Cooking 101

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M!

mynotes: If my Chinese is a little off, I apologize. I'm fluent in Cantonese, but Mandarin is a little bit harder. I'm trying, give me a break. lol.

* * *

Kim sat in a house in the village, watching Shego arguing with several of the town elders, one of which included Grandma Lo.

"They want to hold a feast for Shego." Cheung explained. He paused to listen some more, before continuing on cheerfully, "Shego is telling them to get a life."

Kim turned to Cheung. "I don't get why Shego's so popular."

"Maybe its her winning personality?" Cheung laughed. "Well, I would tell you the whole story, but I have a feeling that Shego doesn't want me to tell you anything. You should probably ask her." Cheung paused. "But I can tell you that she saved our village. She makes life easier for us."

"Shego?" Kim blinked.

"Yeah. Hard to imagine, hm?"

Kim decided not to ask if he knew that Shego was an international terrorist wanted in almost all continents.

"Ni bu xiao shun!" Grandma Lo accused, still arguing with Shego.

"Grandma Lo is saying that Shego isn't showing her filial piety." Cheung explained. "That's--"

"Respect to your parents." Kim nodded.

Shego snarled, "Wo bu shi ni ger hai zi!"

"Shego just said that she isn't Grandma Lo's child," Cheung struggled to translate at the pace the conversation was going.

Grandma Lo started wailing. "Tien, tien ah! Wei shen mo wo sheng yu ger hai zi--"

"Now Po-Po is asking the heavens why she gave birth to a child--"

"You did not give birth to me!" Shego tried to cut in, but Grandma Lo kept on wailing and crying into her hands in anguish, cursing the gods for giving her an ungrateful child.

"Why do you call Grandma Lo, 'Po-Po'?" Kim asked curiously.

"You see," Cheung pulled up a stool. "Po-Po means 'grandma' in Chinese, and you call your mother's side of the family 'Po-Po'--"

"That's Shego's maternal grandmother?"

Cheung shook his head. "No, Po-Po is what you call any elderly woman not related to you, its a respectful thing. I don't know how to put it into terms you might understand... its like a title. Like Grandmother Lo. Instead of Mrs. Lo. Do you get it?"

"Nope."

"Wei shen mo!" Grandma Lo turned wet eyes to the heavens. Or to the rafters of the house in this case. "Wei!"

"ALRIGHT!" Shego shouted. Grandma Lo calmed down and looked at Shego expectantly. "Alright! I'll stay! Sheesh!"

Grandma Lo, who had been teary-eyed before, threw back her head and started cackling triumphantly.

"She's one hell of an actress." Cheung voiced what was on the teenager's mind.

Kim nodded. "And how!"

Shego stomped over, obviously in a bad mood. "We'll leave tomorrow morning, Cheung."

"Of course," Cheung said cheerfully.

Shego turned around and was about to stomp away again when she turned back and looked at Kim thoughtfully. Kim felt like a bug under a magnifying glass on a hot day.

"Kim needs to learn how to cook. Get ah Fong to teach her."

"We have plenty of people in the kitchen already--"

"Cheung, don't argue with me." Shego cut him off, and turned her gaze on Kim again. Kim was well aware that Shego's look brooked no refusal and demanded nothing else but her submission. It promised, that if Kim did not show her the proper respect, than Shego would teach her what respect was. With that look in Shego's eyes, running straight through her like a sword, Kim dropped her gaze to the ground.

"Cheung," Shego's voice radiated with pleasure at the litle victory. "Tell her where she should go. I need someone who can cook on my trip. Right now, she's useless to me."

Kim's hands had automatically tightened into fists at those words, feeling a cold rush of anger and helplessness.

"Of course." Cheung caught hold of Kim's arm, and led her away, out of the house.

Arms crossed, Shego's eyes followed Kim until she had exited the house.

As soon as they were clear of Shego, Cheung eyed Kim, frowning. "So, what's up with you and Shego?"

"Don't ask." Kim replied darkly.

"Okay." Cheung knew when to change the subject. When it came to Shego, he knew it was better to not ask certain questions. He rubbed the back of his neck... he won't ask, but he would ponder the strange relationship he sensed between the brunette and the redhead.

Cheung lead the redhead through alleyways that twisted and turned between the brick buildings. Ancient electrical wirings ran along the top of the rooftops, snaking along smoke-streaked red bricks. Doors were usually plastered with images of two grotesque men with weapons and in full armour, grimacing at people who entered the house they were guarding. With news of the feast on, there was plenty of bustle and hustle. But everybody still found time to stop and gawk at the redhead walking through the village.

"They've never seen a redhead before." Cheung explained. "For most everyone in this village, Shego's the only white person they've seen."

"Except for you." Kim looked at the young man. With his hair shaved close to his skull and his clothes, though a bit worn, set himself apart from the villagers. The villagers wore clothes that they could work in, tank tops and pants, simple white shoes that had one could just slip on and had no laces, buckles or velcro strips. Cheung wore Addidas shoes, jeans and an open short-sleeved shirt. He had 'popped' his collar up and Kim noticed a diamond stud in the lobe of his left ear.

"Except for me." Cheung nodded. "Can you tell I'm not from around here?"

Kim nodded, a bit distracted as a flurry of children ran to their doorway to gape at her.

"Eh," Cheung shot the kids a look. With a collective 'eep!', they disappeared back into the house. But came out to follow Cheung and Kim when they had passed by.

"I grew up in Hong Kong." Cheung grinned. "My grandparents lived and died here. My parents wanted a better life for me, so they swam to Hong Kong from the Mainland, with me. Back then, when Hong Kong was still a colony, it was illegal, you know."

"Wow." Kim was struck, and realized suddenly, that she was an extremely privileged girl. She had heard of immigrants who risked their lives to travel to other countries. Braved impossible odds and took life-threatening risks for their future.

"They made a good life for me, sent me to a good private schools in England, that's why I speak English so fluently." Cheung explained. "And I don't know if you realized or not, but I speak two dialects of Chinese. Mandarin and Cantonese. Courtesy of my upbringings."

"Why did you decide to come back?"

"I grew up partly in this village. I want the same life for my child." Cheung shrugged. "That little girl from before who wanted a chunk of your hair, that would be my daughter, Ting Ting."

"Oh, I didn't know." Kim looked slightly shocked. Cheung looked so young! Barely into his twenties!

"Youthful indiscretion," Cheung seemed to read Kim's mind, and slapped her on the back heartily when she blushed. "Don't be embarassed! I know you were thinking I'm too young to have a child. Its refreshing, because the elders in the village keep saying I had the child way too late."

"Where's her mother?"

Cheung shrugged. "Died in labour."

"Oh," Kim stopped in her tracks. "I'm sorry!"

"Its alright." Cheung smiled. "It was a long time ago. Well, not that long. But I've gotten over it. And Ting Ting doesn't remember having a mother. Like I said, youthful indiscretion."

Cheung hadn't paused in his footsteps, and Kim quickened her pace to catch up to the young man and her questions had ceased.

Bursting through the maze of buildings, Kim could see a kitchen through the wide-open doors of a building. The rich smells of food wafted out from those doors, a heady mixture of sweet, spicy and filling.

"Do I shock you?" Cheung asked, tilting his head to one side to look at Kim.

Kim hesitated a second, before nodding sheepishly. "A little bit."

"I didn't really love her mother. I never really wanted a child." Cheung said simply. "I'm very non-traditional in that sense. I had an illegitimate child and I'm a single father. But here I am, back in the village of my ancestors, adherring to tradition, raising a kid, coming back because of duty."

"Duty?"

Cheung glanced at Kim, and seemed to be considering something thoroughly before making up his mind. "This village is more than meets the eye, Kim. All of these things, you'll have to ask Shego. She'll explain it to you."

Kim voiced her doubt. "I don't know about that."

Cheung shrugged, and motioned to the building. Kim stepped over the threshold, noting that all the buildings she had gone to had high thresholds, almost a foot in height.

"Keeps out the floodwater when it comes," Cheung explained as they entered the kitchen, and turned to wave at a young woman. "Ah Fong! There you are!"

"What is it?" A Chinese woman parted from the crowd of women in the kitchen. Her English was slightly accented, but good. Her hair was tied up into a manageable bun, in which a few wisps of ebony hair was getting lose from under the kerchief she had over her head. Clothed in a simple navy blue shirt and black pants with black shoes, she finished off her look with a black apron. Her face was streaked with soot in odd places, and flour clung to her sleeves and shoes. Wiping her hands on a white cloth, she scowled at Cheung. "Come to steal food?"

"No, no. I came to help, this time." Cheung nudged Kim forward. "This is Shego's friend, Kim. She's going to help you."

Fong gave Kim a once-over. "Do you know how to cook?"

"Sort of."

Fong glared at Cheung accusingly. "You want me to give her a cooking lesson? Just when we have Shego's party to prepare for?"

"I'm sure you have a lot of things done for Shego already," Cheung said slyly. "You can spare some time."

At that comment, Fong visibly flushed. "Shut up! Anyways," Fong gathered herself. "Right now isn't the time. Maybe tomorrow I could--"

"She's leaving tomorrow with Shego, so she needs a crash-course quicktimes."

Fong stiffened at that. "What?"

"Michelle--"

"No, Vince. You know what? Don't help her explain herself. I'll hear it from her later." Fong spun around furiously.

"Mich," Cheung floundered helplessly.

Fong (Michelle?) looked over her shoulders at Kim. "Come with me. We'll crash course you and I hope you poison her when you go up that mountain with her lying ass."

Kim, casting a quick look at Cheung (Vince?), followed quickly after the woman.

"Ms... Fong?" Kim asked, uncertain of how to address the woman.

"My full name is Wong Hiu Fong." Fong said, without turning around. "My English name is Michelle Wong. You can call me Michelle. Our friend, ah Cheung, in case he didn't tell you, his English name is Vince."

For the next few minutes, Michelle showed Kim the woodstove, and just to watch her as she started cooking a dish.

"I'm pretty sure you're used to your fancy electrical appliances, but unfortunately, we only have a wood stove here. You'll have to learn to keep the fire up. From what I gather, Shego has a wood stove up there. You will learn to use a wok and cook, forgoing most of the preparations." Michelle's voice was rife with scorn, and Kim was pretty sure it was directed at her.

"Why?" Kim found the courage to ask a question.

"Because I will be sending you the food to cook." Michelle's reply was curt. "I will make almost all the preparations you need. So you have a pretty easy job."

Kim nodded. It was pretty straight forward, and she watched for a while until she was distracted by a commotion near the entrance of the kitchen.

"Shego!" Excited voices kept repeating, announcing who the source of the commotion was. "Shego!"

Playing the part of returning hero, Shego scowled benevolently at the cooks and kitchen help that all wanted to take turns shaking hands with the woman, talking to her or offering her food that was just being made.

"Wo bu yao," Shego said irritably, but her attitude didn't put any of them off as they surged forward more enthusiastically.

Ever since Shego had beaten her, Kim couldn't shake that uneasiness whenever the green-and-black clad woman came near her. Shego reminded her of vulnerability, reminded her of her own vulnerability. But Kim tamped down that feel, and managed to ask Shego wryly, "Came to check up on me?"

"No," Shego said curtly. "You're in good hands. I came to see someone else."

Michelle was looking at Shego with a wounded look on her face.

"Fong," Shego dipped her head in a mocking bow. "Nihao."

The Chinese woman gave Shego a venomous look.

"Fine." Shego's face lost her pleasant look. "Lets go somewhere to talk. In private."

"Hao."

With Shego leading the way, the crowd parted for the two before they came back to fill the space they left. Everybody continued bustling around, preparing. There was so much food! Enough to feed a small army! There were meat dishes, vegetable dishes, dishes of things that looked too pretty to eat while other things were still being cooked, simmering in pots and steaming in wicker containers. Her place in front of the fire was quickly taken up when they saw that she wasn't doing anything, and Kim wandered around the kitchen, watching people closely.

What stood out was a little girl, maybe several years Kim's junior, preparing something in a small bowl. Curious, Kim approached and looked over the girl's shoulder. Unfortunately, right at that moment, the girl turned around and bumped right into Kim, spilling the contents of her bowl.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Kim bent down quickly to help the girl pick up the pieces of the shattered bowl.

The girl smiled mutely and pushed away Kim's hands.

Feeling useless, she watched the girl clean up quickly.

"Shego ger pun yao," The girl finally spoke and motioned for Kim to come closer. "Wo jiao ni."

The girl picked up another bowl, and reaching into a bag, took out a handful of rice and put it in the bowl. "Ni kan."

Turning on a tap, filled the bowl halfway with water, covering all of the rice, then proceeded to swish the rice around, making the water turn milky. Then she drained the water carefully, using one hand to act like a sieve, catching any stray grains that might escape the bowl. After she was done, she went back to her table, took some oil and poured a small amount in. Kim watched the girl's preparations intently.

"Yan," The girl held out a small bowl with white salt in it, then took a couple of pinches of salt and threw it in with the rice. Then she mixed it. There was a small pot already bowling on the stove, and she poured the mixture into the pot. The girl made stirring motions with her hand, then handed a wooden spoon to Kim. Stirring constantly, Kim watched, completely entranced, as the watery mixture turned into a thick gruel-like substance.

"Zhou." The girl pointed at the mixture, apparently satisfied. She grabbed another bowl, and took the pot off the stove, poured the 'zhou' into the bowl.

"Hao." The girl sniffed the white mixture, and smiling, gave Kim a thumbs-up.

That was how Kim learned to cook congee.


	5. Shego festivities!

Shego festivities!

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M!

mynotes: Ai. Might be full of errors. Remember, I'm on a roll, so I try to rush out as much as I can before my inspiration dies :)

* * *

Long tables were set up around the courtyard to leave a square of space in the middle. Thankfully, there were a few lightposts around the courtyard that made sure that everybody didn't have to eat in the darkness.

At the head of the table, Shego sat with the elders around her, while Kim sat with Cheung and his daughter at the table to Shego's left.

Grandma Lo, meanwhile, was trying to make Shego say a little something to the crowd, which Shego was refusing to do. The food was coming out of the kitchen in quick sucession, always met by a cheer from some people when they spied their favorite dishes or a plate of food that was done so well it had to be admired.

"Ba-ba, gnor seun yiu jok." Ting Ting pointed to Kim's 'zhou'.

"Ting Ting, no. Kim," Cheung looked at Kim's little bowl, ignoring his daughter's pouting face. "Why are you eating that?"

"Why shouldn't I eat it?" Kim asked. After the girl had left, Kim had decided to try her hand at making the 'zhou' herself. It had taken her a couple of tries since she burned the 'zhou', but she finally did it!

"Are you sick?" Cheung asked worriedly.

"No." Kim blinked. "What makes you think I am?"

"Well," Cheung pointed to the bowl. "That's congee. Its a rice dish, sort of like porridge. Usually its a breakfast dish since its light, and it won't weigh as heavy on your stomach as rice. That's why its also made for someone who's sick."

"Oh. A girl showed me how to make it." Kim picked up a spoon and had a taste. It was pretty bland and she was a tad disappointed.

"You eat it with different dishes, maybe some pickled vegetables, dried pork, seaweed. Fish, meat, vegetables." Cheung explained patiently. "If you use less water, you make rice."

Kim nodded, half-listening, as her eyes wandered from Cheung to look around the courtyard. Everybody was dressed a little better than in the morning. Several of the older men had worn suits, or a sort of long-ish robe called a 'cheong-sam'. The younger men just opted for anything clean, and the women all put up their hair or did their make-up.

The children shone, of course. In their sunday best, they arrived in the most adorable outfits with their proud parents watching them. Especially Ting Ting, who was in a cute little red outfit, her hair still tied up in the most adorable pigtails.

The ones that stood out the most, though, was Cheung, Shego and Kim. Cheung and Shego, because they were by far the best dressed of the adults, in Kim's eyes. Kim stood out because she was still in the clothes she was wearing when she fought Shego.

Resplendent in her signature green and black, Shego's outfit was a little bit differen from her catsuit. She was decked out in a cheong-sam, the mandarin collar unbuttoned to her collarbone. Shego was busily trying to swat away Grandma Lo's hands as she tried to button up Shego's cheong-sam.

Cheung, or Vince, had a pair of dress pants and a nice navy blue shirt. Kim could catch whiffs of cologne from the young man when he moved around. He had changed the diamond stud he wore before for a larger diamond stud.

"Kim!" Everybody fell silent, as a figure, unnoticed by everyone, had made her way to the center of the courtyard and shouted the redhead's name. Squinting at the figure, Kim didn't recognize her at all.

"Michelle," Cheung frowned. "What are you doing?"

"I am challenging you," Michelle's eyes didn't leave Kim. "To a match."

Suddenly, Kim finally placed the face. Decked out in loose black outfit with white cuffs and a mandarin collar, Fong from the kitchen stood there, waiting expectantly. The kitchen cook had cleaned up, scrubbed her face, washed off the stench of the kitchen. Underneath all the dirt and grime was a woman around her age, her face was made up of subtle angles and gentle curves. Coupled with huge coffee-brown eyes, she reminded Kim of the androgynous beauties that was usually associated with fairies, or elves.

"No--"

Shego clear her throat, interrupting Kim's refusal. Kim automatically froze. Cursed herself as she heard Shego chuckle. "Kimmie," Shego's voice rang out across the courtyard, purred her name. "Lets make this more interesting."

Kim almost wanted to snarl, remembering those words that were partly to blame for her being in China.

"If you lose," Shego leaned forward, her hands steepled in front of her, looking every inch the villain she was. "I'll let you go back home."

Kim bit back the scathing words she had wanted to let lose at Shego as her heart soared at the proposition. She hadn't even been away for more than 24 hours, and she had been treated more as a guest than a prisoner. But she missed her home. She missed her family and her friends. And maybe, even school. And though it was pushing it, maybe even Bonnie. Going home was some consolation prize for losing! There was no prize out there that Shego could offer that could possibly top going home!

"If you win... our bet from before still applies. And," Shego held up a finger. "I'll train you until you're up to my level. I'll teach you what I did to win you."

Kim felt like there was this huge pressure, squeezing against her ears. All she could hear was a ringing noise.

"Well?" Shego's voice, however, managed to pierce through the haze. Those green eyes pierced through her. Could cut a piece of her soul, take a piece of her soul.

"This isn't a fight to the death, is it?"

Shego barked out a short laugh at that. "Kimmie, these people aren't savages! I'll judge when one of you have lost."

"Yeah right," Kim shot back. "Like I believe you!"

Shego looked around at the elders, and all of them nodded at her unspoken question.

"They will judge."

Kim was sure her mother had warned her about making deals with the devil.

"Deal."

Kim stood up and flipped over the table effortlessly. Michelle smiled in determination, relaxing into a stance. Then, without warning, she flew forward with a flurry of attacks that Kim barely blocked.

"What deal," Kim grunted as she blocked a fist with her forearm, "did she make with you?"

"That," Michelle spun back and sent a roundhouse kick into Kim's side, "is none of your business."

Kim stumbled, and Michelle took advantage of that, moving forward aggressively. That move, however, was a grave error on her part. Kim, who had faked the fall, used a hand to prop herself up and kicked out at Michelle's shoulder. The Chinese woman stumbled back, felt her arm go numb and prickly from the deadly hit.

"That was good," Michelle panted. Her left arm hung limply at her side, and even though she willed it to follow the instructions her brain was giving, it was immobile.

"Give up?" Kim didn't let up on her attack, and tried another kick, that Michelle blocked clumsily with her right hand. Kim pressed her attack steadily. With only one arm that worked, Michelle was at a great disadvantage. But she can feel pain shooting down her left arm now. Which meant she would be able to control her arm now. Which meant she could take the redhead by surprise.

"Ha!" Michelle caught Kim's arm, to Kim's surprise. She was even more surprised as a leg swept her feet out from under her.

'I am NOT going down alone!' Was Kim's only thought as she grabbed at the front of Michelle's outfit with her free hand. Hitting the floor, she flipped Michelle over her, rolled away, and got back on her feet. Taking advantage of Michelle's downed position, she drove her heel down where the asian woman where be, but thankfully, she had rolled away and flipped back on her feet.

Each woman adjusted their fighting stance. That first little round had been to see how good the other was. Now they would fight seriously.

'She's good,' each woman thought, as they circled each other warily. And each woman, tensing briefly, launched themselves at each other with only one thought: 'But I'm better.'

There could only be one winner.

Half an hour of fighting, and both girls were covered in sweat, neither giving up. But most of the elders and Shego could already see that one girl was significantly less winded and wounded.

"Stay down!" One snapped at the other, impatient for this match to end. The other woman just shook her head stubbornly, favouring one leg and getting up from the ground. The other growled impatiently, and lunged forward. In several impressive moves, she had pinned the other down, immobilizing her and had her fist raised to land the last punch.

"Stop." Shego's voice rang out. She looked to both sides of her, at the elders who all nodded their head, silently agreeing to the end of this match.

"Ah Fong," Shego looked softly at the woman, hearing her ragged breathing. "She qi, Fong. Ni bu ke ying."

"Wo bu sang shi," angrily, the Chinese woman angrily wiped away the tears that were starting to appear at the corner of her eyes. Kim still stood over her, poised to strike.

"Fong," Grandma Lo got up off her chair. Looked at the young woman gravely.

Hearing her name spoken, Fong covered her eyes and her tense shoulders sagged visibly, as she lay in the dust, trying to hide her despair.

Dazed, Kim moved away from the woman, not knowing what to do. Why hadn't she lost? She could go home. The noise level was going back up, as people started eating again, ignoring the two combatants.

"Kimmie," Shego had approached without her knowing, and the teenaged heroine directed her dazed look at Shego. "You won. Congratulations."

Then, turning away from Kim, she shocked the redhead again by picking up the downed Fong from the ground. Hefting her in her arms and adjusting her hold on the woman, Fong accepted Shego's hold on her, burrowing her tearful face in the crook of Shego's neck.

Shego gave Kim a challenging look, as if daring her to laugh at the green-eyed woman's surprising display of tenderness. Kim didn't. And Shego, carrying the woman, left the celebration.

* * *

"Its pretty warm at night, but just in case, we put a blanket in there for you." Cheung pushed open the doors to a large room. The decorations in the room were, to put it politely, spartan. There was a large bed with a mosquito net canopy over it. There was a small wooden box at the foot of the bed that was basically the dresser. The walls were white-washed and devoid of any decorations, and the windows were bare. A small table with a ceramic basin on it and a pitcher on the floor was where Kim should wash. And there was a ceramic pot near the bed that was for 'business'.

"In case you need to go at night, there ya go. There's a public washroom at the outskirts of the village, but its pretty far away, and its dark out, so best do things in here. When you're done, cover it with the lid and crack open a window if you need, but it works fine." Cheung laughed out loud at Kim's look of horror. "Yeah, that's one thing I miss about civilization. Indoor plumbing. You don't realize how important it is until its gone."

"Ba-ba..." Ting Ting whined. She had been following Kim and Cheung around quietly, but it was way past the little girl's bedtime, and she was getting fussy. Making comforting noises, Cheung picked up the young girl and bounced her gently in his arms.

"Time for bed," Cheung said apologetically. Saying their goodnights, Cheung left Kim in the room, closing the door behind him gently.

"Well." Kim looked around the room helplessly, and for the hundredth time, wondered why she hadn't thrown the match. Quickly, she pushed the question to the back of her head, not wanting to deal with it. Instead, her thoughts wandered to her family and friends. Were they looking for her? She had been gone almost 24 hours... 24 hours.

Rescue missions ran through her head. Wade should have tracked her down by now. That thought stunned her. Should have, those two words again. Should have. But didn't. What if Shego had done something to her friends! Ron should be barrelling through this village right now, tearing the place up looking for her!

"Hey," Shego pushed open the doors, and barely dodged a kick from Kim. Bewildered, she fell back into a fighting stance. "What the hell!"

"What did you do with them!" Another missed kick slammed the doors shut. Shego, entangled her arms in Kim's quickly, and slammed the heroine against the door.

"What is your problem!" Shego leaned against Kim as the woman struggled wildly.

"Ron and Wade! My family! What did you do to them!"

"What... what the hell do you mean?" Shego asked impatiently.

"They would come get me!" Kim insisted. "They haven't. What did you do?"

Shego smirked. "So that's what you're worried about. What, Kimmie, you didn't want to keep your promise? In case you lost in the ring, your little friends would come and rescue you? Wanted to ambush me?"

The casual tone in Shego's voice had steadily gotten angrier, and Shego's arm against Kim's neck had also steadily increased in pressure, cutting off the flow of oxygen into her lungs.

"No," Kim managed to squeak out.

"No?" Shego raised an eyebrow. Just as Kim's vision was blurring around the edges, Shego let go, and Kim slumped to the floor, coughing and sucking in as much air as she could.

"You didn't even think about being rescued. You thought you would win." Shego said smugly. Raked her fingers through Kim's scalp, and suddenly grabbed a fistful of red hair, pulling Kim's head back violently and slamming it against the door. "But... they must have some way of tracking you. Like how they microchip dogs."

Kim bristled at the comparison, which only made Shego smirk some more.

"Here's a little gem of information for you, Kimmie." Shego's voice had lowered to a dangerous purr. "No-one will find you here. Nothing will be able to track you and there will be no rescue team. There's only you and me--look at me!"

Shego pulled at Kim's hair, jerked Kim's head to face hers again. And the young woman was captivated by green eyes that looked almost reptilian.

"Do I have your attention?" Shego's tightening fingers on her hair made Kim's eyes tear in pain. "Good. Remember. Here, you have no friends. All you have here is me."


	6. Where's Kim Possible?

Where's Kim Possible?

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M!

mynotes: The Possibles and Kim's friends start to frantically search for Kim Possible. Thank you for all your reviews and your ponderings. :D It makes me aspire to write better. Aspire... did I use that word right? But anyways, most of you must be wondering where Kim's friends are. So here you go.

* * *

Little more than 24 hours had past since Kim Possible was abducted, the Possible clan and Kim's close friends were more than a little worried.

Kim getting abducted was unusual, as she could take care of herself quite well. If she did get abducted, there was a little bit of worrying, but Ron and Rufus were always there to help and she always got away without a scratch. But when the owner of the gym had reported a green-and-black clad woman at the scene, everybody had started worrying. Since Kim's loss three weeks ago, everybody who knew about it had been secretly worrying about it.

What happens when the good guy is beaten by their arch-nemesis?

"So on a scale of one to ten... how bad is it?" Monique had gathered at the Possible household. Though, not as regular a fixture as Ron, who was like a third brother to Kim, Monique was close enough to rate extended family.

Ron looked around nervously, making sure that the Possibles weren't eavesdropping.

"Thirteen. As in unlucky thirteen. As in unlucky for KP!" Ron whispered harshly. What he had seen... he didn't know why, but his instincts had told him Shego had changed drastically. Into a wholly different and wholly more dangerous super-villain.

"Dang." Monique gave a low whistle and hoped that Ron was exaggerating. But she's heard stories about Shego. Flaming green hands, martial arts skills that rival Kim's...

"Goddamn." Monique muttered as the gravity of the situation hit her. Ron, in his distress, had blurted out to Monique that Kim had gotten her ass handed to her that time Shego and her had had that confrontation in the mall.

"So do you have the calvary out looking for her?" Monique took a look around the house. She was slightly surprised that there were only a few Global Justice agents around taking statements from the family.

"No," Ron shook his head. "Wade's ripping apart the internet looking for her. He says he's searching the villain forums on anything Kim Possible. Of course, there's a million and one entries on her there so he has a way to go. She left her Kimmunicator in her gym bag, so we can't track her down like that."

"Don't you have another way to find out where she is?"

Ron nodded. "Wade says there's a small chip implanted on the underside of her arm, but the signal started flickering as soon as it went over Asia. That was like... so long ago though. I went and looked with GJ guys where her signal disappeared. No KP."

"All this," Monique waved around, "Seems pretty small. Why not do an international search for her or something, with all the works?"

"Monique," Mr. Dr. Possible had overheard, and came over now. His face was creased with worry, but he tried to smile reassuringly at the teenagers. "Why not an international search, hm? It seems that an international search for Kim Possible would tip the bad guys out there that the first and best defense against them is gone. Everybody's a little bit nervous."

Monique snapped her fingers, as if remembering something. "What about that guy that Shego works for? Doctor... Dumbass or something?"

"Dr. Drakken. He's in GJ custody right now," A Global Justice agent informed. "We're questioning him right now on Shego's whereabouts. But it seems like he has no idea where his sidekick is at the moment. He's convinced that she'll be breaking him out soon, though. Since she's done it before, we're going to set up an ambush and wait for her."

"The boys want to go out and look for their sister." Mrs. Dr. Possible joined the group and accepted a comforting hug from Monique. "Hey honey, you didn't have to come here at this time."  
"Don't worry about it Mrs. Possible, I don't have anything to do today." Monique shrugged nonchalantly. "And even if I did, this is important."

The Kimmunicator suddenly beeped, and Ron immediately picked it up.

"Did you find her?" Ron asked the boy genius.

Wade shook his head sadly. "Sorry, man. I got nothing. But it seems like news about Kim's disappearance might have leaked out."

"What! How!"

Wade held up his hands helplessly. "Seems like Shego planned this ahead of time. There was a message posted on several forums all the big names frequent regularly. You know, villains dot com, bad guys dot org, etcetra. All those posts have her signature on it, so its kinda unlikely that the post would be dismissed as spam. I traced the messages back to a laptop in an apartment complex in South America. The entire complex is empty, and there's no sign of Shego."

"Why would she do that!" Ron screeched.

"Calm down, Ron." Wade had both hands covering his ears, wincing. A red light suddenly started blinking on and off in Wade's room. "Uh-oh."

"I don't like the sound of that." Monique, who had been listening in on the conversation along with everyone else in the room, peeked over Ron's shoulder and saw the blinking red light. "I don't like the look of that either."

"Hold up." Wade's fingers danced over his keyboard, his brows furrowed into a frown. It looked like a lot of people had been doing that lately. Frowning.

"I got a hit on the site."

Ron's face fell. A hit meant a mission. A mission meant Kim and Ron. No Kim? No Ron.

"Its Duff Killigan. He's holding up a bank... and he's asking for Kim."

"Global Justice?"Ron's eyes were hopeful.

"Duff Killigan spotted, he is armed and dangerous, repeat, armed and--" The radio on the GJ agents' belts crackled as a huge boom cut off the 'dangerous'. "--we need back-up! We need back-up! All units, report to--" Another boom, and the radio transmission cut off abruptedly.

Ron's look of despair turned into one of grim determination. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out Rufus.

"Well," Ron smiled down at the naked molerat, who returned the look bravely. "Its just you and me, buddy. Kim's not here, but we gotta show the bad guys that Ron Stoppable will stop them!"

"You can do it, Ronald." Mr. Possible patted Ron on the back with a half-hearted smile.

"Uh-huh!" Rufus nodded enthusiastically.

The GJ agents in the background, however, were giving each other looks and snickering. Monique glared at them, then turned to Ron. "Well, I might as well tag along."

Ron's face was almost comical in its disbelief. "Say what?"

"You heard me." Monique slung an arm over Ron's shoulder. "I'm temp-ing for a while. Anyways, I heard bout this guy from Kim. Aint he some kinda golfer? Psh. Easy pickings."

"I don't know, guys--" Wade started, but a glare from Monique shut him up.

"Please. Can he do any worse with me around?"

Wade looked slightly thoughtfuly, then shook his head. "Nope."

Ron protested. "Hey!"

"You aint shakin' me, Ron." Monique crossed her arms.

Two pairs of eyes watched from the stairs as Ron gave in and asked Wade to get him a transport.

"Hicka-bicka-boo?" one boy whispered to the other.

"Hoosha." His twin nodded.

* * *

"Thanks for the ride Mr. Conolly." Ron piped up.

The billionaire flashed Ron a grin. "Hey, its the least I can do since Kim recovered my invention for me! Where is she by the way?"

"Taking a holiday," Monique quickly covered for Ron, who was at a complete loss on how to explain Kim's absence.

"Ah, she needs one." Mr Conolly nodded sagely. Then he frowned as a little light on his control panel flashed. "What have we here?"

"What's wrong?"

"Unwelcome passengers." The pilot growled, unbuckling his seatbelt and leaving the cabin. A few seconds later, he returned, herding two young boys in front of him.

"Jim! Tim!" Ron jumped up in alarm. "What are you two doing here?"

"We followed you--" Jim started.

"--because we knew you'd need help!" Tim ended. Or was this Jim? And the other Tim?

Monique shook her head. "Uh-uh, half-pints. You two are going back."

Mr Conolly checked his gauges and shook his head. "Nuh-uh, little lady. This baby right here," He patted the console, "Is a gas-guzzler. I got just enough, and a little more to drop you off at where you need to go. Then I need to fill up. If we turn around now, I'll run outta gas in the middle of the ocean, honey."

All eyes focused on Monique. Apparently, they had all chosen a leader in charge of this little disaster. Since Kim wasn't here, the closest thing to Kim was Monique. On the basis that she was a girl and seemed to have things more together than Ron did at the moment, who was hyperventilating.

"You serious?" Monique asked.

Ron giggled nervously. The stress of going on a mission without Kim was getting to him just a little bit. Sure, he's been without Kim before. But this was slightly different. Kim had been kidnapped (or Kim-napped) and every baddie in the world knew about it!

Monique looked down at the twins. "Fine. You two can come along, but Mr. Conolly's going to fly you two home as soon as we get dropped off. Deal?"

The twins exchanged looks, and lied as one. "Fine."

In their little heads, they plotted away. They would help Ron and Monique. Ron totally needed the help, they had both agreed. Then, they would hijack the plane and go looking for their sister.

* * *

Shego stepped over the threshold of the house, into the night. After her little 'talk' with Kim, she had left the house, feeling a bit angry and guilty for what she had done. Angry because she felt guilty. Back in the days, before she had stumbled on this little village, she would never have felt guilty. Sighing, Shego tilted her head up and smiled a little. In a seemingly endless black void hung a myriad of tiny lights winking down at her and she was always surprised to see them. Most of the time, Shego worked in cities so she didn't have the opportunity to behold such wonders. Stars. Ha. How many people in the city takes these lights for granted?

Shego remembered when, still pretty fresh from the city, she had discovered stars again.

"Right there," She could here her voice, see a delicate finger pointing up to the sky. "What you call 'the big dipper'."

Shego nodded, pleased. "Right."

"And that star up there... its named after you?"

Shego looked up at the north star, trying not to laugh. "Yeah. That's it. The Shego star."

The green-eyed woman let out a huge breath she didn't know she had been holding and shook away the memory.

"Not sleeping?" Someone asked in Chinese. Fong's body seperated from the shadows, and she smiled shyly at the young woman.

"I could say the same for you." Shego smiled back, responded in Mandarin. The Chinese woman tilted her head to the side, then spun around on her heels, walking towards the outskirts of the village. Not missing a beat, Shego followed behind the woman, through winding alleyways and twisting paths.

"Where are you leading me?" Shego asked casually, knowing the answer. Asking anyways.

Fong glanced at Shego over her shoulder, and laughed lightly, her voice teasing. "Are you scared of the dark?"

Shego's right hand burst into eerie flames that bathed the alley. A mud-splattered mutt who had been snuffling about started at the sudden light, then ran off, away from Shego.

"Aw, you scared him." Fong turned left as Shego snuffed out the light, the darkness rushing in to enfold them again. Momentarily blinded, Shego stopped, listening closely to Fong's footsteps stop, then return to her. But she still couldn't see her.

"Where are you?" Shego held out a hand, felt Fong's fingers dance lightly over hers, saw shining brown eyes smiling at her. Fong pulled Shego closer, and draped the older woman's arm around her shoulders, like a scarf. Shego canted her head to better look at the Chinese woman as she continued walking.

"You're limping a bit." Shego pointed out.

Shoulders tensed under her arm. "You're a bitch."

"You know you don't want it any other way."

Fong rolled her eyes and looked up at Shego with admiring eyes. "Can't live with you, can't live without you, right?"

"Right." Shego's smile was worth the beating she had taken today. After a while, Fong had seen she would lose. Kim was faster than her, stronger than her. And it had galled her that the redhead had almost wanted to go easier on her at the beginning. This fight was a matter of pride! It demanded that your opponent give you the same level of seriousness that you put into it. She had fought hard and fought with all that she had. She knew she was no match for Kim, but she had thought that maybe--

"Stop thinking about it." Shego's voice broke into her thoughts, her words ruthlessly rubbing salt into the open wound. "Stop thinking about the fight. You had absolutely no way of winning and I told you before you even challenged her. You would give her a run for her money, but you would lose. You got what you deserved. I told you there was no way in hell that you would win. You had a snowball's chance in hell against her."

"I wouldn't have given up without trying." Fong set her jaw stubbornly. The asian woman stopped suddenly, spinning out of Shego's arms to regard the thief. "Why take her with you? She's obviously unwilling!"

"Drop it, Fong." Shego breezed by the other girl. "We are not having this argument again."

"Shego--" Fong reached out and grabbed Shego's arm as she passed by and Shego acted like she had been scalded. Snatching her arm away from Fong, she rounded on the woman, her features livid with fury.

"I've fought with Kim since forever! You are nowhere NEAR her skills." Shego hissed, finally snapping, her patience stretched thin. "I do not want you to pursue this further. You lost. If you had beaten her, she would be on her way home and you would be going to Er-Mei with me."

"Shego, I'm sorry," Fong recoiled from Shego, "I'm sorry, please..."

Shego eyes were narrowed to tiny slits as she studied her angrily, searching for some hidden motive behind Fong's apology, a reason to lash out at the girl. Fong shivered involuntarily at the scrutiny and felt incredibly miserable. Shego was on her way to being a legend. She, on the other hand, was just another girl out there. A girl who loved a legend, but just a girl.

"This isn't about you, Fong." Shego motioned the woman forward. Fong didn't hesitate, ran into the thief's embrace and felt ashamed as tears soaked into Shego's green-and-black shirt once again. "This isn't about me. This is about something else entirely. You know that. I don't want you to ask or question my decision on this ever again."

"I'm sorry, Shego." Fong held on to Shego for dear life. Everybody who knew her knew that she wasn't one for strong emotional displays like this. Since she was young, she rarely cried at all and almost always had a serious countenance on her face. In the village, people respected that aspect of her personality, recognizing that it came hand in hand with her beyond-average intelligence. Outside of her home, people that had tried to get close to her dubbed her a 'cold bitch'.

"Sh. Its alright. Now lets get going. They're waiting for us."

Fong had grown up in the small village and was sent away by her great-aunt, Grandma Lo, to study abroad. Never one for the hustle and bustle of modern life, she had returned after completing her post-secondary education, not only because of duty, but because she loved and missed her quiet home where people understood her need to be alone. Nothing upset her, nothing really required her to think too much.

That was before Shego suddenly dropped into Fong's quiet life. The thief boggled her mind and challenged everything that she thought was true. The green-eyed woman shocked and scandalized her, and though she did grow up in a backwater village in China, Fong had thought she hadn't been that sheltered from the world.

Despite all their differences, there was the immediate physical attraction to this pale-skinned enigmatic woman. It surprised everybody to see Fong's emotions flare out around Shego and her obvious want to be around the outsider. It was at once a good and a bad thing. It was good because Fong was showing she had the emotional capacity to love someone. And indeed, the elders weren't blind, even though Fong denied it vehemently, they could see she was absolutely smitten with the green-eyed woman. The fact that the two involved parties were both girls wouldn't have been that much of a problem, since Grandma Lo was the appointed head of the elders and loved Fong. She would permit the girl anything, and any disapproval on the elders' part on her grand-niece's love was quickly squashed.

"It is strange, but does that matter? Some of you might not remember, but I remember Mr. Li and Mr. Young. They were the nicest couple around, remember? It is out of the ordinary, but I believe it is normal. What Fong does does not affect you. It should affect me most since she is the last in my bloodline." Grandma Lo had addressed the issue when she had sensed people were a bit uncomfortable. "She has not shown interest in ANYONE except Shego, so its ridiculous for some of you, and I will not name names, to say that ah Fong will poach on your daughters."

The rebuke from Grandma Lo shamed the council, and they bowed to Grandma Lo's will.

"I'm actually quite happy." The old woman's lips had pulled back into a grin. "My grand-niece has good taste."

It was also a bad thing because nobody knew how Shego felt. She was elusive when Grandma Lo would question her on her relationship with Fong. And even though the reclusive Chinese girl had finally learned how to step out of her shell, Grandma Lo didn't know if it was a good thing that it was Shego who helped this change come along. Grandma Lo was positive that Shego was a great person underneath layers of protective attitude and hostility... but what would it take for someone to get underneath all of that? How badly burned would the person be who dared to be close to Shego?

There were so many things bad about this non-relationship that might or might not happen... there were so many reasons...

"Hey," Cheung's form was outlined by the light shining through the doorway of a house. "You guys finally made it."

"Cheung." Shego and Fong had arrived at a small house at the edge of the village. "They're all here?"

"Been here for a while." Cheung pushed the doors open wider. "Go ahead."

Shego nodded, then patted her companion on the back. "Go home, Fong. Cheung will take you home. I'm thinking this'll take a while."

The Chinese girl shook her head. "I'll wait for you."

Shego nodded, knowing she would not be able to persuade the girl to leave. The doors slammed close behind her as soon as she entered the house.

"Po-po." Shego bowed to Grandmother Lo. Then she bowed again to the rest of the elders. "Everybody. Good evening."

The council of six were made up of an equal number of men and women, of which Grandma Lo was the official head. They sat in a semi-circle facing the door, and they regarded Shego with serious eyes. Even Grandma Lo, usually jolly and cackling didn't have a smile on her face.


	7. Everybody was KungFu fighting!

Everybody was Kung-Fu fighting!

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M!

beginningnotes: Is everybody doing alright? Holding on? Liking it? Hating it? Think there could be changes? Send me a little scribble. Thank you for all of you for your kind comments. I'm gonna try my best to accomodate:D Reviews get me off my ass to write, so reviews, babes! ;) I love y'all!

Oh, and to address a question that's been asked a lot: Will there be KIGO? Will there be Kim/Shego femslash-y goodness? Well... how do you think this story is going so far? ;)

* * *

Kim had woken up in the morning surprised that she had slept at all. The sound of songbirds and the chatter of people roused her from the bed, apparently. The sun was barely up, but a lot of people were already awake and going about their business. Pushing open the window, she was could see people winding through the alleyways below, and the smells from the kitchen reached her nose. And, faintly, just underneath the racket of morning, was the thin strains of music. Kim guessed that it was from the courtyard.

'Still celebrating the return of their hero?' Kim thought nastily.

The buildings were built close together, so Kim couldn't see beyond the buildings around her. But that could be easily remedied. Turning around to look up, she could see that the roof wasn't that far up. A quick flip, that would've required months of practise for anyone, and Kim was up on the red-tile rooftop, looking over the whole village.

The view took her breath away.

Situated in a valley amidst scores of others, there was no other signs of civilization in sight. Smoke was lazily winding its way out of chimneys as the sun peeked out in between two mountains in the far distance. The village was small, and instead of being in a close-knit cluster, the village was stretched out in a long winding path that reminded her of a snake. In fact, the latice of alleyways reminded her of the pattern on scales on a snake's skin.

In the middle of this curious village, she could hear clearly now, and see, that that was where the music was coming from. A small battery powered tape-player was set up, and there were about maybe a score or so of people doing taichi. Spaced out evenly, Kim wasn't surprised to see Shego. Surprisingly not in black-and-green, she was in a white tanktop and what looked like a comfortable pair of navy-blue pants. With her hair tied up into a ponytail and a relaxed look on her face, it made the woman look more vulnerable. More human. And less like the super-villain Kim knew she was.

Kim's eyes pulled away from Shego and picked out a figure that had moved extremely close to the green-eyed woman. Her sleep-muddled mind finally cleared and she recognized the figure.

'Fong. Or Michelle. Whatever.' The Chinese woman's movements were completely identical to Shego's as she slipped under Shego's arms so that Shego was basically spooning her from behind as they moved in perfect synchronization for a few seconds. Move for move, breath for breath... Kim felt a pang of jealousy as memories of fights long ago was brought up to mind. She would have been there, move for move, hit for hit--

Apparently, Shego had gotten irritated at the closeness and stepped away, while Fong spun on her heels to face her, still following the taichi movements. A taunting grin on her face told Kim that Fong was mocking Shego, challenging her in some way. That's when Kim noticed the other people doing taichi. With a deceptive slowness, the rest of the people practising taichi had closed in on the two, all of them facing Shego. And to Kim's surprise, they struck out at Shego in an almost rehearsed way. One by one or two by two, sometimes in huge groups that should have at least touched Shego, Kim watched the woman dodge, duck, block and retaliate almost casually against these people who had been harmlessly doing taichi before. Kim knew better than to shrug them off. All of the punches that were so easily blocked were expert, just like Fong's had been the night before when Kim fought her. They would've packed a hell of a punch if the punches had landed.

'Where am I?' Kim thought dazedly as children who had been watching the organized fight, ran in to join in. Though less than perfect, the children's form told Kim that they knew exactly what they were doing and had been trained. But not trained enough as Shego tossed them, letting them fall harmlessly away. A few adults who were just watching grabbed the children, rebuking them for interfering.

Suddenly, about half a dozen people ran out of various openings into the courtyard and flew at Shego with a flurry of attacks, pressing Shego to quicken her steps. The score of people who had been attacking Shego fell away to form a circle around the fight. Whoever the new people were, they were good! Kim could only see a blurr of motion from--

One attacker was thrown harmlessly away. He got up, dusting himself slowly. With a respectful bow to the fight still going on, he was immediately met by a young man who had brought a stool for the downed man to sit on. A bit bow-legged and hunchbacked, Kim was shocked to recognize the white-haired old man who had sat a few seats away from Shego last night.

Two more people were expelled from the fight. An old man and an old woman. Elders in the village. Bowing out, they both got seats around Shego's fight which was rapidly winding down. Two more people were taken out. And then there was only one left.

'Lo Po-Po.' Kim deducted. And indeed, it was the old woman. It was like... watching yoda fight. Unbelievably quick for someone that old, Grandma Lo held her own, her moves fluid and exact. Kim could see that Shego wasn't struggling at all, though. After a few minutes, Grandma Lo seemed to be struggling, and finally stopped. Clutching her chest, she was breathing heavily. Shego had also stopped, and seemed to be asking the old woman if she was alright.

Which was a big mistake as Grandma Lo swept out Shego's feet from under her.

Shego, to her credit, caught herself before she hit the ground and flipped away, scowling angrily. The elder held up her hands in a sign of surrender but had her head thrown back and was cackling at her deception. Though there was no doubt that Shego would have won the fight, Grandma Lo had struck a blow to Shego's pride that nobody had managed to inflict in this fight.

Flipping back into her room, Kim found that she was shaking a little bit. Fong had been no pushover last night. She had had to wear the girl down, which in turn, wore her down. Grandma Lo had been amazing, and Kim didn't doubt that if the old woman had fought her, she would be down and out in half the time she had used to fight with Fong.

All night, the redhead had lain in bed, plagued with questions until sleep had taken her. She might have found the answer to one of them. How had Shego gotten so much better than her? This village was home to residents that were all proficient in martial arts, from the oldest to the youngest. This was obviously where she had honed her skills! And skills they were. Shego was almost superhuman.

'Almost?' Kim closed her window, felt a chill run down her spine. 'She is superhuman.'

This was where Kim was determined to gain the means to beat Shego. If she couldn't beat Shego, she might as well retire from the hero business! Thoughts ran quickly through her head. Sure, she can't beat Shego now, but the woman had promised to pull her up. And though not one to trust a thief's promise, least of all Shego's on a whim's notice, Kim felt she could trust Shego in this situation. Except near the end. Then she should expect a double-cross. And three years of keeping Shego out of the circuit... the rest of the villains GJ could probably handle the villains for now. Team Possible--

Kim felt a pang of homesickness. Team Possible. Ron. Rufus.

Her parents.

Monique.

Even the tweebs.

Why hadn't she thrown the fight? She didn't know why she had fought so hard to win Fong...

Kim sat down heavily on the bed, fighting to keep the tears down.

What did Shego have planned for her?

* * *

"Thank you," Kim croaked hoarsely. Her near strangulation by Shego had left its mark. Her throat was bruised and felt especially tender whenever she breathed heavily or ate. She was glad for the bland congee that was being passed around. Sitting in Grandma Lo's house, which was also where Fong lived, she felt especially tense. Three people around a square wooden table painted with red lacquer paint.

On her left - Shego.

Right? Fong.

Straight ahead, Lo Po-Po heaped food on to Kim's plate, chattering excitedly.

"Accept everything and try to eat everything. Its impolite to refuse," Shego had ordered. Apparently, Shego didn't bother following her own advice as she again and again snatched her bowl away before Grandma Lo could heap any food on it, arguing with the old woman in rapid-fire Chinese.

"Nihao!" Ting Ting's head peeked through the doorway. Climbing over the threshold, she ran to Fong, squealing in glee and threw herself on to the young woman. In her trademark pigtails, she was still unbelievably adorable.

"Nihao, po-po." Cheung came after, bowing apologetically. "Jiu xu."

Shego nodded and turned to Kim. "We're going now."

* * *

On the pretense of forgetting something in her room, Shego had excused herself and sent Kim outside to wait for her. In her room, she looked around the small space. It was sparse, like Kim's, it was a temporary room. It had a bed. It would do. A noise at the door alerted her that the person she had been waiting for had arrived. Fong entered and closed the doors carefully. Not looking at Shego, she faced the door, not daring to turn around.

"Hey." Shego said softly.

"Hey yourself."

Shego smiled at her response, then her expression grew solemn. "Close your eyes."

Not even having to see her face, Shego knew Fong would comply. Padding over softly to the girl, she enfolded Fong in her arms, felt the woman's body shudder in a long sigh that communicated her aching to Shego. Pulling insistantly on the sleeve of Fong's shirt, Shego dropped a wet kiss on a bared shoulder and felt Fong shudder again. Shego pressed her lips behind the girl's ear, breathing, mouthing the words that she would never ever say out loud to the girl. Repenting was not in her nature. Felt Fong turn her head, eyes still close, her face innocent and trusting.

'I could break her neck in an instance.'

Shego shook away that startling thought quickly and retracted her hand that had unconsciously whispered up to Fong's throat. Feeling Shego's hand leave her, Fong trained her face back to the door.

"Fong," Shego sighed and turned Fong to face her. Fong still had her eyes closed. Cupping her face, Shego knew she would have been way too nervous to do what she was about to do if Fong had had her eyes open. It felt like an eternity to Fong, before she felt Shego's lips on hers. At first, quick and fleeting. Then returning, deepening. She knew her hands should be at her side. She knew that as long as it was Shego who acted, as long as Fong had what she wanted but never voiced it physically or vocally, it was fine. She could ignore it and blame it on Shego. But how she had failed so many times... so many times. One more time might be her undoing. But she would die for this heaven.

Shego didn't push her away as she slid arms delicately around the pale-skinned girl's waist. Feeling no resistance, Fong's arms moved up, until she finally had her fingers tangled in Shego's hair. The kiss was sweet, aching; everything she imagined a kiss with Shego would be.

"Shego," She tried to open her eyes, but Shego's hands covered them. Kept her in the darkness.

"Don't." The voice was low and husky. "Ni bu kan, ah Fong."

"Wo ai ni," was what Fong wanted to say. Wanted to say it so much. But that exquisite mouth descended again and she held on for dear life as the words were washed away.

* * *

"So when did you learn Chinese?" Kim asked curiously.

Shego kept looking out the passenger side of the jeep and answered, "When I came here."

Frustrated at the lack of communication between them, Kim sat back. She had tried several times to strike up a conversation, her curiousity and boredom getting the better of her. Cheung had left Ting Ting in Grandma Lo's care and was driving the two to their destination. Shego, he had declared, shouldn't be driving for so long since she had already spent all of the day before flying a plane. Everybody had come out to bid the green-eyed woman goodbye. Some of the older people and the married couples pressed red envelopes into Shego's hands, which the woman would accept each one graciously.

"Popular, isn't she?" Fong sidled up next to Kim and gave her a smile.

The surprise must have shown on her face, as Fong's smile became apologetic.

"I was a little hostile towards you at the beginning. I'm sorry about that," Fong held out her hand to Kim. Not one to hold a grudge and feeling like she needed all the friends she could get out here, she shook the woman's hand. "Its just, Shego has a way of getting under my skin all the time."

"Its the other way around!" Shego's ears were sharp as usual. She turned to look at the two women with a smirk on her face. Her hands full of little red envelopes, she announced it was time to go.

"Don't lose these," Shego pushed some red envelopes into Kim's hands. Kneeling down, she smiled at Ting Ting, who had suddenly gotten a bout of shyness and was hiding behind Grandma Lo's legs. "Come here, you."

Ting Ting ran to Shego and held on to the villainess' arm.

"Wo yao--" The first two words that came out of Ting Ting's mouth and Shego silenced her with a stern look. Kim, after hearing a lot of 'wo yao's from Ting Ting had finally found out from Cheung that it meant 'I want'.

"You stay here." Shego said firmly in Chinese. "You take care of everybody, okay?"

"Okay!" Ting Ting nodded. Shego motioned her closer, and the child leaned forward, covering her smile with both hands, tickled pink at the thought that she might be privy to a secret.

"Take care of your father, okay?" Shego whispered. "And take care of Fong. You know what a baby she is."

"You can count on me!" Ting Ting nodded. Then her face turned pleading again. "But I want to go with you!"

"No," Shego switched back to English. "Stay."

Fong excused herself from Kim's company and went to pick up the child in her arms. Ting Ting was squirming and her grasping hands managed to catch a hold of Shego's shirt.

"Let go--"

"Nooo!" Ting Ting screamed, trying her best to cling on to the fiery woman as everybody laughed at the situation. Again, Kim had found herself wondering what Shego had done to ingratiate herself with the villagers.

"How did you figure you won?" Shego's voice shook Kim out of her thoughts. Kim seethed at the sight of that annoying smirk on Shego's face. "I mean, Kimmie, you love me so much you'd throw away home to be with me?"

"No!" Kim crossed her arms. She made up her mind that she liked un-talkative Shego better.

"Oh, poor baby gonna sulk?"

Kim responded with a kick, which Shego blocked immediately and retaliated with a kick of her own. Kim managed to block that, but just barely as her whole arm rung from the force of the blow.

"Girls!" Cheung barked out. He watched them from the rearview mirror. "No fighting in the car!"

"Sure, mother." Shego's droll retort made Cheung bristle indignantly and start cussing her in Chinese. Shego could care less as she grinned at Kim, who smiled back hesitantly.

The Shego that she knew from three years ago was looking at her. Haughty, sarcastic and teasing. And though Kim would never admit it, it had been fun, fighting Shego in the past. It was confusing now how Shego could jump from intensely dangerous to surprisingly caring to playful; right back to her default of dryly sarcastic. Kim had only been acquainted with Shego's feelings of rage and competitiveness. It frightened the heroine how little she knew her arch-nemesis and how much Shego had changed over the years they hadn't seen each other.

There were so many surprises now. What surprised her the most was how she felt at home with this facet of Shego she remembered so well from her past. It surprised her that she missed this Shego.

* * *

endnote: So this chapter was kinda weird and I had no idea what I was doing. Its an awkward chapter. So lets hope my next one is better! 


	8. Er Mei

Er-Mei

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M!

beginningnotes: Thank you for all the kind comments. They keep me going. And I think its time to give shoutouts to my reviewers! Thanks for all you crazies out there who are like "GIVE US SOME KIGO! WTFROFLMAO! OMG, SHEGO IS SO HOT! Biznatch, yeah! Give it to us good!" lol. That sums up about what some of you are saying. I love you too, guys. And a special thanks out there for you guys that give me constructive criticism to work on. All y'all make me a better writer. sniff GROUP HUG!

And because I can, I'ma pimp out my other fics: they not good, but they okay :D READ MY SHIT!

ahhaha... I should not go into advertising. lol.

* * *

Shego panicked just a bit when she woke up to the feeling of a body squished up against hers. Opening her eyes slowly, her vision was assaulted by a mass of red hair. Suddenly, everything hit her, and she relaxed slightly. She had Kim Possible. The drive to Er-Mei was a good couple hours away from the village going at the steady speed Cheung was going at. Shego, tired out from the workout and the meeting with the elders late last night, had fallen asleep pretty quickly. 

"She fell asleep a half hour after you," Cheung said in Chinese. "Will you guys really be alright up there?"

"We'll be fine."

Cheung nodded and they rode in silence for a while.

"So," Cheung's voice broke through the silence. "How was ah Fong?"

"She's doing fine." Shego replied carefully. "You don't have to worry."

Cheung nodded. "You'll be back in two months or so?"

"I'll see you next month. You'll have confirmed a day by then?" Shego shifted a bit. Kim was making her arm numb. Careful not to wake the girl, she pulled her arm out from under Kim and replaced it around the teenage heroine's shoulders.

"The elders are going to pick a good day, don't worry."

Shego nodded absentmindedly and they quickly fell into silence again. Now awake and alert, Shego recognized the scenery passing by outside. To anybody else, the forest all looked the same. But Shego had been on this path many times before. They were almost there. And that pull was strong. It was still early in the afternoon, so she hoped that she would get to their lodgings by nightfall.

"Mom," Kim moaned as the jeep hit a particularly huge bump, "Five more minutes."

Cheung and Shego both chuckled as the redhead snuggled closer to Shego, muttering and smacking her lips sleepily.

"So, she's the one?"

Shego nodded. "There's nobody better than her that I could think of."

"You know--"

"I know." Shego cut Cheung off grimly. Shego looked down at the girl, studying her face. Three years without seeing each other. And now she'd have three years to get to know the teen again. The jeep was going up a steep incline right about now, and it would be another five minutes before it wouldn't be able to go up any further.

"Probably should wake her up. We're almost there."

Shego nodded, then grinned mischeviously as she regarded Kim's peacefully sleeping figure. Without that determined look that Kim usually kept on her face, the redhead looked deceptively fragile.

"Wake-up, Kimmie." Shego pinched Kim's nose shut and covered her mouth. A few seconds, and Kim was struggling to push the hand away, rudely awaken from a very nice sleep.

"What," Kim gasped, glaring at the grinning villain, "do you think you're doing!"

"Waking you up," Shego said, just as the jeep rolled to a stop. "Do some stretches, your training starts now."

"Training?" Kim's eyes let up at the words.

* * *

Kim craned her head back, looking up the long flight of stairs that twisted and turned up the mountain. She couldn't even see the end of it! The stone steps twisted around huge trees that Kim was sure were thousands of years old. Mist hovered near the top, and Kim could feel her legs weaken at the sight of such a formidable obstacle. 

They had parked the jeep an hour's walk back and started out on foot through the ancient forest. After a few minutes of walking, Kim couldn't retrace her steps even if she tried to. Fog frequently caught the three by surprise and made it impossible to see more than a few feet ahead of them. Thankfully, Shego seemed to know the way by heart. And as the unsettling mist cleared, she was at the bottom of a set of stairs. Stone blocks the size of watermelons strung together with cloth lay nearby, as if they had been thrown there by some giant. A stone marker beside the stairs had two Chinese characters written on it. Kim assumed it meant LONG WALK AHEAD or something.

"You," Kim looked at Shego, eyes pleading. "are joking. TELL ME you're joking."

"Nope." Shego started heaping more things onto Kim's load from her own and Cheung's. Kim already had on a huge hiking pack filled with stuff. Shego kept on putting more things on, securing them on Kim. "With you here, we might make it to the top in one trip instead of two."

"What?" Kim's face paled.

"What?" Shego mocked and laughed at the indignant look on Kim's face. "Please. Aren't you Kim Possible, the girl who can do anything?"

Setting her jaw, Kim tightened the straps on her, refusing to reply to Shego. Shego was baiting her. And she won't take the bait. She kept a tight rein on her temper, even when she could see that Cheung's pack was significantly smaller than her own, with much less trappings on it. And even when she could feel the pack on her back getting increasingly heavier.

"You ready?" Shego smiled sweetly.

The climb up was not as hard as Kim had thought. It was actually harder. Almost torturous. Kim stayed silent as Cheung and Shego talked amongst themselves in Chinese, slowly simmering in her anger. Forty-five minutes or so up the step, a pot fell off her pack and went rolling down the steps. Kim held back tears of frustration as Shego sent her after it. Thankfully, because of the winding nature of the stairs, the pot had rolled to a stop a ways off the steps just twenty down.

Her legs burned as she marched up to catch up with Shego and Cheung, and almost screamed when she saw that they were sitting down on the steps, fanning themselves.

"Go on up, we'll rest a while." Shego snickered and waved up the steps. "Don't stray off the steps. We'll catch up."

Step by step, Kim climbed these steps, feeling sweat pour down her brow and make her clothes stick to her. Her clothes... She hadn't changed in like... three days... She must stink to high heavens.

Cheung watched the girl make her way slowly around the bend, then gave Shego a sharp look.

"That was so mean."

Shego shook her head, drinking some water from a thermos. Capping the metal container, she sat back and heaved a sigh. "If she's exhausted, she'll sleep better tonight."

Shego handed Cheung the thermos. "Go up and give this to her before she dehydrates. I'm just going to sit here a while longer."

Cheung nodded, hefting his bag higher on her shoulder, and set off. Catching up to Kim was not that hard for him. First off, even though she had gone quite a bit further, she was going really slow. Second, he only had a small pack to carry.

"Hey," Cheung called out. "Kim, wait up."

The heroine turned around, her face showing the obvious strain she was in. Kim managed a smile, though.

"Set your bags down and have some water." Cheung unscrewed the thermos and handed it over to Kim, who accepted it thankfully.

"How much longer?" Kim asked after taking a long gulp from the thermos. Cheung sat down heavily and shrugged off his pack. "Maybe... another hour or so?"

"Don't think you can do it?" Shego showed up, easily passing the two going two steps at a time.

"Show off," Cheung shouted at Shego's retreating back.

"Flaunt what you got," Shego shouted back.

* * *

"You know," Cheung gasped as he lay on the ground. "That if we had like... a car that could go up this mountain... we'd... be here in... half an hour or so?" 

Kim was exhausted beyond exhausted. Her legs felt like jelly and she just wanted to go back to sleep. But she couldn't show any weakness in front of Shego. That's why she was still standing. The better part of the day had been spent travelling, and the sun was on its way to setting.

"Well, I'm off." Cheung sat up with a grin. Taking off his pack, he started for the stairs.

"Hey," Kim tried to shout, but it came out as a strangled cough. It managed to get Cheung's attention, that was the important thing. "Hey... you're going back right now?"

"Yeah," Cheung nodded. "Ting Ting would be waiting for me. And the sun will set soon so it's time I head back before I can't see where I'm driving."

"Seeya." Shego waved, as Cheung disappeared down the stairs. "You can take your backpack off now, Kimmie."

Her pride was telling her to keep it on. But her common sense won and she let everything fall to the ground with a groan.

"Shower or food?"

Her stomach growled in response to that question, making Kim blush and Shego laugh.

"Shower." Kim managed to say in a hoarse whisper.

"Bring the bags inside first." Shego picked up her things and Cheung's, then headed to the walled dwellings. Which Kim finally looked up at. The sheer magnificance of the place stunned her as she passed the heavy wooden doors. It was a large house surrounded by a beautiful garden. Like something out of a Chinese fairy tale, Kim was sure of it. Walking inside, she almost tripped over the high threshold. Looking up quickly, she was relieved that the black-tressed woman didn't see her stumble. The house was amazing! Shego had already dropped her load in the first room they entered and was busily pushing windows open. White silken curtains came alive in the light breeze that was coming in from outside.

"Follow me." Kim dropped her bags on the floor and obeyed, still gawking at the splendour of everything. The floors were hardwood, the pleasant staccato of their footsteps almost made Kim smile. Exiting the room, they walked along covered walkways. Now their steps sounded more hollow, but it was still pleasant to her ears. In the center was a courtyard that was meticulously kept and landscaped. Large pockmarked stones lay in a haphazard, yet well thought out place in the twisting courtyard. Stone paved walkways broke off from openings in the wooden paths to meander through the beautiful garden.

"Ooo," Kim looked over the edge of the walkway to see that a small stream had been incorporated to this mini-marvel, and beautiful carp seemed to follow the two women, as much as the confines of the stream would allow. The sound of water was extremely refreshing, and Kim almost forgot about how tired she was.

"They're hungry, aren't they?" Shego, seeing that Kim had stopped to view the fish, had leaned over the wooden railings and watched the fish swirling around underneath the water. "They would eat me out of house and home if they could."

Shego continued on her way, and Kim followed after the woman. They passed by several doors, before entering one. Inside the dim room, Shego pushed open the windows too, and Kim was greeted by the sight of what looked like a vanity room. There was a large mirror, table and chair with cosmetic products on it, a couch or two, a folding screen to change behind, and decorations to make the room a bit more aesthetically pleasing.

"This leads into the bath room." Shego pointed to a door they faced when they came in that had steam coming out from the bottom. Pushing it open revealed a tiled room, no less beautiful than everything else she had seen here. A large... pool, was the only word Kim could find to describe the large tiled hole in the floor, was filled with steaming water that Kim could see bubbled out from a side of the pool. Steps lead down to the pool, and there was a lower edge in the pool where you could sit and relax. Like a hottub. Bath products lined one corner of the pool, and barely used candles surrounded the body of water. Coloured silk hung from the ceiling, moving slowly in the warm air.

"This is the bath." Shego pointed to the pool. "The water comes from a hotspring underground. I'm going to put our stuff away so don't take too long."

With that said, Shego left, closing the doors to the bath behind her. Waiting until she heard the outer doors closed, she let out a sigh. Finally alone. She needed time alone to gather her thoughts. Slowly stripping out of her clothes, she kicked them to the side and walked into the pool, sighing in contentment. The temperature was just right. Hot, but not so hot that it was unbearable. Her pale skin immediately brightened to a rosy red, and she contemplated just soaking in it for a while.

'Augh... hygiene...' Kim grabbed the shampoo from the assortment of bathing products. She was so distracted, she didn't even hear Shego coming in and watching in amusement as Kim lathered herself up. With an appraising eye, Shego took in Kim's backside appreciatively, noting the play of muscle underneath ruddy red skin.

"Ahem," Shego coughed.

Kim turned around, hands still on her hair. Seeing Shego there, grinning at her, she realized that she was a bit undressed (just a bit), and instantly sat down in the water, her face flushing redder than it already was. "What are you doing!"

"Um," Shego shook her head, clearing the image of a fantastically nude Kim Possible. "I brought you a towel and some clothes."

Kim nodded. She didn't trust herself to form words and felt mortified beyond speech. Shego just grinned and placed the clean clothes down on a little wooden table and picked up Kim's clothes.

"I brought a laundry basket and put it in the outer room, so when you're done with clothes, just put them in there." Shego picked up Kim's soiled clothes. The movement caused Kim's underwear to fall out from the pile.

"Ooo, Kimmie." Shego picked up the black boy-cut under-roos. "Aren't YOU the butch one!"

"SHUT UP!" Kim wished she could burn up and die. Here she was, sitting naked in a huge bath with her arch-nemesis twirling her underwear around her finger. "GET OUT!"

Grinning, Shego sauntered out and closed the door. To poke her head back a second later, a shit-eating grin plastered on her face. "Seems like you've gotten bigger since I last saw you. Been eating your vitamins, Kimmie?"

In a move worthy of the matrix, Shego managed to dodge a bar of soap that was thrown at her.

* * *

Very different from Lo Po-Po's dining room (more of an eating area) and her own dining room, this house's dining room was more of an audience room. A medium sized room, it had low oblong tables that were placed so there was a square of space in the middle of the room. One table at the head of the room was on a raised dias. A silken screen with a gorgeous motif of a green snake on it sat behind that table. 

'Are those... real?' Kim wondered silently at the large emerald(?) eyes it had, and the various semi-precious jewels(?) that adorned the picture. The needlework could only have been done by a master, and it was extremely detailed. But the it seemed like it wasn't finished yet, as loose black thread hung out from a barely started stitching. Odd.

Kim tried to imagine Shego doing needlework. And shuddered at the thought. A housewife-y image of Shego. That was really strange.

Silken drapes, hung from the ceiling, giving the room a cozy elegeant look. Each table had a set of utensils on it, all of which looked expensive. A meal had already been laid out for two on two of the low tables. There was enough natural light for the candles not to be lit, they sat cross-legged at their respective tables, which were on opposite sides of the room, facing each other. There was a bowl of rice and various other dishes set out for out for the both of them.

Shego's whole body radiated stress, and Kim knew better than to try to engage her in a conversation when Shego snapped at her a few times for asking questions. When the meal was finished, Shego pointed to a teapot sitting in the middle of the room. Kim hadn't noticed it there before.

"Pour me some tea." Shego's expression did not allow for any outcome except for what Shego requested. No, not requested. DEMANDED. The teasing, playful and accomodating Shego had gone, replaced with the cold ruthless one that Kim had seen that night when Shego had pinned her against a door and informed the heroine there would be no escape.

Anger clutched at her insides at the helplessness she felt. Kim had almost forgot that she was a prisoner. In a very beautiful prison, but still a prisoner. Green eyes watched her carefully as she poured the hot tea into a delicate looking jade tea cup. The teacup, unlike the weird, bronze lipped cup she had been drink from, had no handle. It was round and smooth with a flat bottom. Kim had one too at her table.

"Pour one for yourself."

"I don't want tea."

"Don't be an ass. Pour one for yourself."

Kim did so, Shego's presence had gotten more menacing by the second. The sun was setting outside...

"Drink."

Kim sipped at the hot aromatic tea, pleasantly surprised that even though it had the bitter taste of tea leaves, there was a sweet cloying taste to it that was almost addictive.

"Like it?" Shego picked up her own cup and watched Kim drain her cup.

"What is it?" asked Kim.

Shego smiled. But that smile wasn't a pleasant one. "Grandfather Cho's special blend. He's the herbalist in the village. He comes by the mountain often, just around the bottom of Er-Mei to gather herbs. You might have seen him sitting two seats away from me at dinner last night."

Kim tried to remember who Shego was talking about, but she felt suddenly lethargic and extremely tired. All the work she had done, the travelling, the carrying, ascending the mountain... it was all catching up to her.

"Feeling tired?" Shego's green eyes seemed to burn in the fading light.

"Yeeeah..." Kim slurred. She tried to get up, but instead managed to knock her bronze cup down and spill water on herself.

"You're tired." Shego's voice sounded echoey and strange. And for some odd reason--Kim turned her head to stare at the snake motif that was on the silken screen--the snake on the screen seemed to be glowing. But then again, that could be related to the fact that she was seeing two of everything...

Kim looked down at the table, and there were six chopsticks floating around. Make that six of everything. "Woah..."

The redhead closed her eyes, hoping her vision would clear by then. She didn't even realize she was being carried until she opened her eyes and saw Shego's chin. Past Shego's head, she could see the sky lit up by a bright full moon and more stars than she could possibly count...

"Shego..." Was what Kim tried to say. What Shego heard was: "Shbbbaa..."

Shego frowned, annoyed. "Shut up."

Dimly aware that they were inside now, because the stars were replaced by wooden rafters, she was placed down on something soft. The feeling of well-being and a general fuzziness permeated her entire being.

"Bed..." Was what Kim tried to say. Again, it came out wrong.

"Bbbbbb... bbbbb..."

"Shut up!" The villainess Shego's hands were undoing the fastenings on her shirt...

Alarms rang in Kim's head, and her hand shot out to push Shego's face away.

"Gah--!" The pale-skinned woman fell off the bed. But she came back a second later, a dark look on her face. Kim was trying to roll away when she found out that she couldn't find the strength to stand up, but it was slow going as the sheets got in the way. A hand shot out and grabbed her before she could roll off the bed completely, pulled her back to the center of the bed.

"Nnn.. nnn..." Kim's eyes widened and she tried to push Shego away again while trying to keep awake. But her strength had been stolen from her, and her strugglings weren't helping at all. Like a fly caught in a spider's web.

"Stop..moving," Shego straddled Kim's bucking body and caught Kim's flailing hands, pinned her wrists above her head with one hand. With the other hand, she worked on the fastening on Kim's shirt with a grim determination. Kim struggled valiantly, trying to fight off Shego, but failing.

"Go to sleep," Shego's voice was faraway. And try as she might, Kim couldn't disobey the order. The last thing she felt was the feel of Shego's hands roaming over her body.

* * *

endnotes: OO What's going on, eh! 


	9. she'll be coming up the mountain!

she'll be coming up the mountain!

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M.

author's note: Just wanna say that I based the house that Shego and Kim are living in on a place that I have actually been to. When I was in Shanghai, I went to these old-timey villages. Amazing, let me tell you. The history! The culture:D

* * *

Someone was banging at her door, and she groaned, rolling over. It was hard enough to sleep with all those birds singing outside! Even harder with the sunlight streaming in from god knows where! All she knew was that her body ached something awful and the best way to heal was to sleep in. 

"Mom," Kim whined, putting a pillow over her head. "I don't feel good..."

"I'm not your mother so I won't cut you a break. Wake up or you don't get breakfast!"

Kim bolted awake at the sound of Shego's voice. The events of the night before crashed into the forefront of her mind and she looked down, feeling herself frantically for... yes. Clothes! She had clothes on! Then was last night a dream? On further inspection, she realized that she was wearing different clothes than the night before. She had on a large 'Canada' hockey jersey and... a pair of underwears. Where was her bra! Where were her clothes from the night before!

'She changed my clothes?' Kim snatched the blankets up around her, feeling that her humiliation was officially complete. If Shego hadn't seen her naked in the baths last night... well, now Kim knew Shego has seen her naked. Her mind reeled at the possibilities. What did Shego do to her? Why had she--the tea. Right after she had drank the tea, she had felt weird. Nice... but weird.

"Hey," Shego opened the door, a scowl on her face. "The day's not gonna wait for you. Wake your ass--holy!"

Shego dodged a brush that was aimed at her head. "Are you hostile to everyone in the morning or is it just me?"

"You!" Kim jumped out of bed, and though her whole body ached, she did a roundhouse kick, and missing, quickly came back with an elbow aimed at Shego's gut. Automatically, Shego caught it and pushed her away.

"What is wrong with you?" Shego hissed. Kim punched out, and using the same move she had used that night in the village, she wrapped her arm around Kim's. Catching her other arm, her leg snaked around Kim's and forced the redhead to one knee. "Do you want me to beat you into submission? Is that it!"

"Go ahead!" Kim's anger made Shego do a double-take. The girl was actually really mad about something! "And after you're done beating me, are you going to rape me again!"

Shego's jaw dropped in shock. Then she closed it quickly and shook Kim, outrage and genuine anger on her face. "What?"

"Last night!" Kim wouldn't let tears show as she thought of being... violated like that by her worse enemy. "You know what you did, don't deny it!"

Shego openly gaped at Kim. "You. Are. An. Idiot. Its so not what you think."

"Really," Kim said wryly, still trying to struggle out of Shego's grip. "What about my clothes, huh? I wasn't wearing these last night! What about this Canada jersey, huh?"

"Last night..." Shego's voice was slow and dangerous. "I gave you Grandpa Cho's special tea. Its a relaxant and helps with sore muscles and low energy. It works over-night. All you need is at least eight hours of sleep, and a few minutes after you wake up, the soreness should be gone. Its like a sleeping pill, but far more potent and its all-natural.

"Last night, I overestimated the amount of leaves I should put into your cup so you konked out fast. I explained all of this to you when I carried you to your room." Shego's face was growing darker by the second and Kim cringed in the face of Shego's righteous fury. "Obviously you didn't hear me, but you woke up again when I carried you outside and starting talking stupidness. You had managed to spill water on your clothes at dinner. I brought you to your room and I tried to change you and you PUSHED MY FACE. I fell off the bed. I had to HOLD YOU DOWN TO CHANGE YOU. You pushed my face! And that Canada jersey is limited edition from the Salt Lake City 2002 games, thank you very much!"

"Um," Shego's explanation did make sense. And Kim didn't feel particularly violated... and her back--

"Hey!" Kim rolled her shoulders, amazed that the soreness she was certain would stay throughout the day was gone. "I'm not aching anymore!"

"You actually thought," Shego's voice brought Kim's attention back to the villainess kneeling over her. "That I, I, SHEGO, would take advantage of you?"

Kim, to say the least, felt sheepish. In her defense, the redhead managed to squeak, "It was an honest mistake?"

Shego took a deep breath. Then another. And another. And started laughing as loud as she could.

"You... self-centered... egotistical," Shego could barely get the words out of her mouth, she was laughing so hard. Kim had stopped struggling now and just wanted to die. She could tell her face was beet-red from embarassment. Shego had (surprisingly) done her a favour, and she had thought Shego had... did... thing with her while she was out. "Idiot! You actually think that I would... and you... and me and, and..."

The rest of the sentence was torn away by racuous laughter. Shego's hold on Kim loosened and she fell away, rolling on the floor and howling with laughter.

"It was an honest mistake, okay!" Kim shouted. She really really wanted to disappear at the moment. Then, thinking of something, she pointed out, "Well, what about you and Fong, huh? I don't know if--"

"No." The laughter died as quickly as it had started, and Shego's face was twisted with undecipherable emotions. "Don't go there, Kimmie."

Picking herself off the floor, Shego dusted herself off. "Breakfast is getting cold. So I suggest you change and wash quickly. The outhouse is right behind the baths. I hope you remember how to get to the dining room."

With that said, Shego left in a hurry.

'What was that?' Kim stood up, her earlier embarassment almost forgotten in the face of Shego's reaction to Fong's name. Kim had just meant to embarass Shego a bit, tease her on how well she treated the asian woman... Kim pushed that subject aside to disect later, as she concentrated on stripping quickly and changing into the clothes Shego had placed for her on a chair. She spotted a basin and a pitcher of water in the corner of the room, and quickly went to make use of it, noting that there was a toothbrush, toothpaste, a washcloth. Brushing her teeth, she looked around the room, noting the luxurious canopied bed. And the vanity set that had been various beauty products, moisterizers and the like on it. Thoughtful. Kim was seeing a whole new side of Shego. What was the woman trying to do? First she treated her violently, but that was not unexpected. Shego treating her nicely... a painting of carps swimming in the water caught her eyes, giving her something to take her mind off the enigma that was Shego. The brushwork was beautiful. Everything in the room, from artpieces to furnitures were placed in a very pleasing way.

'Whoever decorated this place,' Kim rinsed out her mouth. 'Sure knew what they're doing.'

Kim went through her morning rituals, then hurried to the dining room, congratulating herself on picking the right door in the beautiful household. Shego was already sitting cross-legged at her own table, eating congee and light dishes of pickled vegetables. Kim had a similar setting at her table. Sitting quickly, she dug into her food, and was surprised when Shego asked her a question.

"What do you mean by me and Fong?" The woman asked casually.

Kim swallowed down her food, and smiled a bit nervously. "Well... I didn't mean anything by it. It was just, you know, after Fong and I fought, you were really nice to her. So I was just teasing you... anyways, I'm sorry if you were--"

"Shut up." Shego growled. Having gotten her answer she wanted to stop Kim's incessant ramblings. She started eating again and Kim, thankful for the silence, went back to her food. Fong was a subject that shouldn't be touched. That much she knew. And if Shego wanted to tell her something, she would tell her.

'I mean, we're not even friends. Why would she tell me anything about her personal--'

"Fong and I were sort of an item." Shego picked up a pickled radish from a dish, munching on it carefully. What she said floored Kim completely. But she kept her surprise in check startlingly well. All that managed to get past her stranglehold on the shock she felt was a twitch that Shego didn't see.

"You... and... Fong..." Kim said slowly, putting her chopsticks down. Her hands had started shaking.

"Fong and I," Shego nodded, slurping at the congee. "were an item."

"Okay..." Kim tried to pick up her chopsticks again, but failed miserably. Finally, she sighed and decided to be truthful. "Okay, what the hell."

Shego chuckled and glanced at Kim. "What do you mean?"

"I thought you were totally into guys." said Kim.

"Just cuz I didn't jump your bones when you were out doesn't mean I'm not interested in girls," Shego laughed at how Kim flushed up immediately. "Don't assume the whole world is a happy hetero place."

"I don't!"

"Ha," Shego barked out a short laugh.

Kim sipped some water, refusing to let Shego irritate her, yet failing miserably. Fong was right, Shego did have a talent of getting under someone's skin. Then something occurred to the redhead.

"Were, as in past-tense?"

"Yeah," Shego drawled, eyes sparkling. "Why are we still on this subject? Are you interested in filling a position?"

It seemed Shego had settled on a subject to tease Kim on. Shego leered at the young woman, who was sputtering in indignation.

"NO!"

"Well, took you long enough. Maybe a bit... TOO long."

"Okay, I think you're really attractive--"

Shego grinned, pleased. "Oh, so you find me attractive."

"Shut up!"

"Gonna make me, Possible?"

"Three years with you," Kim groaned, picked up her chopsticks and started eating again. "I'm going to die."

"Three years that you chose to spend with me, Kimmie. And I might have taken the choice away from you at the beginning, but you can't say I didn't give you another chance to escape." Shego had finished her breakfast. "Do you know why you won? Other than the obvious answer that you were better than Fong, do you know why you won?"

Kim was faced with that question that had to be answered. Shego waited expectantly.

It was true.

Kim had decided her own fate. She had fought against Fong, knowing the stakes. Knowing what would happen if she lost, what would happen if she won. But she had always been a perfectionist, had always been a bit too competitive. Losing was not in her nature, and even at the beginning, she had been willing to risk everything to be better. She had always been determined, but calm in almost every sitch. That was because she always knew that she was good at what she did, and all her opponents, though challenging, would fall before her. The only one who kept her on her toes was Shego. And to have the person she considered her opposite, the yin to her yang if you would, win, it was to say the least, disconcerting. They had always had a balance there. To have that balance tip, it had thrown her off completely.

"I want to win." Kim answered grimly. Kim, to her credit, looked the part. Decked out in the gi Shego had lain out for her, she stared at the other woman.

Shego laughed. "You always wanted to win, Kimmie. But you want the reason I think you came with me?"

Shego took Kim's silence as an affirmative, and the dark-haired woman leaned back, using her elbows to prop herself up and stretched her legs out under the table. "You could have thrown the fight. Let Fong go with me. Losing to Fong might have been something you could take, if the stakes had been different. If it had been your family or anything else besides me, you would have given up everything to be with them. But here, you didn't. It was because of the stakes."

"Who's conceited now?"

"Listen, would you have wanted someone to get better than you, and be my equal?" Shego explained slowly, as if she was explaining to a particularly stupid child. "I am the factor in the fight that made you want to win. Say what you want, Kimmie. Maybe its because the hero in you wanted to make sure that an obvious friend of mine didn't have the same skills I do. But really, you're jealous of anyone that catches my eye as an opponent. I'm your responsibility. To not rise to the challenge... you couldn't abandon me like that."

Kim sat in silence, contemplating the words and wanting to reject the truth in them. But she couldn't. Responsibility... was Shego really her responsibility?

"When I first met Fong, you know, she reminded me a lot of you." Shego smiled wistfully at the memory. "She fought like you, was at the same level you were when I had last seen you. But unlike you, she improved too slowly. But you catch on fast. I can't teach her what I'm going to teach you in three years."

Kim was trying to bend her mind around everything Shego was telling her. It was... strange. And it felt like Shego was leaving out quite a bit of information...

"So Fong," Kim crunched on a pickled vegetable, picking her words cautiously. "reminded you of... me?"

"Yeah," Shego tilted her head to one side pensively. "Both of you have that fire, I guess. And maybe look a bit alike?"

Kim laughed. "How?"

"I don't know. You just do."

Kim paused then spoke up again, the question she had been rolling around in her mind needed to be asked. "Why did you bring me here? Besides the fact that I lost a bet. I feel like you planned this. I don't understand. Even if Fong isn't as good as I am, wouldn't it have been better to bring someone you like instead of someone you don't like?"

"Its not about whether 'I like' or 'I don't like', now. Sometimes, its not about what people want. Its about what's best for you and for them." Shego said carefully. But her words gave her away. Shego had chosen Kim for something, something that was 'best for you and for them', that much the younger woman was certain. Kim had never heard Shego sound so full of purpose, and she studied the older woman. A couple days ago, Shego had been missing for a long time. Shego smirked at Kim, misinterpreting why the other woman was ogling her so intently. "Aw Kimmie... who said I didn't like you?"

Kim blushed at that question, felt her heart do a nervous flip-flop. 'What did Shego mean by 'like'?'

Shego, either not aware or not caring about Kim's inner conflict, blithely continued on talking.

"You think I have some ulterior motive? Hm." Shego looked up at the rafters. A light breeze came in from the open doors, making the coloured silken sheets above her rippled in response, giving the illusion of a multi-coloured sea on the roof. "What do you think?"

"Why would I ask you if I had the answer?"

"Well... three years alone training someone who wasn't as skilled as I was would kill me." Shego's tone was brusque. "I couldn't have Fong here. I need someone to focus me. So you were the first choice."

"Wow... Do you tell Fong about 'us'?" Kim joked. In her head, she thought the excuse Shego was giving her was full of holes. What was Shego really up to?

"Please don't flatter yourself." Shego rolled her eyes. Pushing herself off the floor, she gathered the dishes together, and motioned for Kim to follow her. "Dishes, Kim. Your first duty of the day."

Something suddenly occurred to the redhead. "Wasn't I supposed to be cooking?"

"Yeah, I'll be doing that for a while. Fong told me she only taught you bare basics before she ran off to yell at me." Shego shook her head. "She's more trouble than she's worth."

Kim hurried to gather her dishes, and as she exited and turned to close the door behind her, she noticed the screen that had been behind the raised dias. There was a cloth thrown over it, covering the snake motif and the unfinished portion of the screen. But a small corner peeked out from under the sheet. It looked like... something had been added to the unfinished work--

"Hey, move it! We start as soon as you're done the dishes!"

Kim closed the twin doors quickly, forgetting about the hidden screen and hurried after Shego.

* * *

Kim watched Shego walking steadily beside her. Blinking the sweat out of her eyes, she wondered again why she hadn't thrown the match. She now knew for certain the reason why Shego wanted her here. Shego was bent on killing her. She knew it. Bent on killing her as slowly and painfully as possible. 

"Watch that step." Shego pointed out the step a bit too late, and Kim fell to one knee, stifling her cries of pain as her bruised knees and shin hit the stones again. She had only fallen five times, but it was still a long way up to the top. Tied around her waist and body were weights. The threaded stones(small boulders) she had noticed at the bottom of the steps were actually make-shift weights she was struggling to lug up.

"With all of your hero thing, you're quite a gymnast." Shego had admitted grudgingly at the beginning. "But you don't have the strength training."

"Isn't this..." Kim wheezed, "bad... for your... body?"

"It could be," Shego nodded. "That's only if you keep falling and you don't adjust yourself to the weight. Also, you might wanna fix the way you hold your back, or else it could seriously warp your posture."

Kim grumbled at Shego's cavalier attitude. "Do you even know what you're doing?"

"Gee whiz, 'KP'," Shego mocked Ron's voice. "You heal pretty fast anyways. Just keep going."

It was true. Years of doing damage to each other had surprisingly sped up both women's healing factor.

"We'll only move on to the next stage when I see that you can get up those stairs without struggling too much." Shego sat down on a step, fanning herself. "Don't you think its hot today?"

"Yes, it is." Kim spat out. She was barely a quarter of the way up the steep climb.

"You're thinking I'm probably doing this to make you suffer." Shego sighed, clutching at her heart like the very thought of Kim even thinking those thoughts hurt her thoroughly. "But if I had really wanted to make you suffer, I would have made you climb to the TOP of this mountain."

Kim's stunned look made Shego laugh.

"Gee, Kimmie." Shego took out a bottle of water and took a sip. "You thought our house was at the top of the mountain? We still got a ways to go. And don't worry, by the end of this week, we're going to try to get all the way up there."

The weights on Kim suddenly seemed so much heavier.

* * *

Kim lay in bed, feeling like someone had tried to tear her body apart. That someone being Shego. Shego had forced her to climb until they reached the house, then go back down to drop off the stones, then comes back up again. That had been the whole day, gone. Sure, they breaked for lunch. Shego had made sandwiches, which the heroine had wolfed down hungrily. Then Shego had urged her on, allowing only a short time to digest. She wanted to make it down the mountain with the weights, then up the mountain without the weights before the sun set. The time up the mountain without weights, Shego had said she would time her, and the next day, she expected the time to be cut down. 

'She wouldn't even give me the special tea,' Kim thought sulkily. But Shego had pointed out that to rely on a substance to get through her training was just cheating herself. So Kim had gritted her teeth and bore it. Rolling onto her back with a groan, she let her head fall to one side so she could look outside at the dark sky. Tonight it was cloudy. Maybe it would rain tomorrow and Shego would give her a break. The teen imagined that those stone steps up the mountain got pretty slippery if it rained.

Kim wondered if it was raining back in Middleton...

'Mommy.' Kim, who rarely used that childish way of addressing her mom, threw an arm over her eyes, too exhausted to cry, but feeling that horrible pang of homesickness. What was she doing here? She should be home. Her family and friends were probably worried sick about her! Why hadn't they found her yet? Where was she? And what did Shego have planned for her?

Questions. She had a lot of those. Among them was one that disturbed her slightly. Why hadn't she tried to escape? Why was she still here when obviously Shego had some grand scheme that probably included Kim in it? The answers that she was given were vague or evasive. Turning over again, she was drifting off to sleep fast, and wasn't sure if she what she was seeing outside her window was real or just a figment of her sleep-deprived brain... a beautiful shimmering bird seemed to be circling the house, as if looking for a place to alight. Finding none, it gave out a mournful cry before turning away and heading down the mountain.

With that haunting sound reverberating in her ears, Kim fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

* * *

endnote: So sue me, I don't know how to write training scenes at all. Woah. and someone mentioned me in KP slash haven! Too cool:D 


	10. of stones, water and birds

of stones, water and birds

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M.

author's note: Thank you for your kind comments. I'm at work, and I read over my past chapters and I'm horrified to see so many typos. And the grammar, god! The grammer! (>. ) Thank you for your compliments. And I will do my best to give you updates! Joker of Wonderland, thankyou for the plug at KPslash :D Its always good to be appreciated. And now you know you are too. :) Read on, readers! I blame the late update on Harry Potter. I been reading the book. And I've been sick. coughcough

* * *

Dimly, over the ache of her body, she could hear the thunder rumbling outside and the downpour of rain. Just like the second day she was here, when Shego had made her do the stairs even when she could barely see past her nose in the torrent of water. She had slipped and fallen more times than the day before, but Shego had nodded approvingly, saying she had cut her time down by seven minutes. It felt like an eternity, lugging the weights day in and day out, when her body had adjusted miraculously in Kim's eyes. Of course, Shego had then asked her to add a few more rounds of up and down the mountain to her route until she was satisfied that Kim could do it with ease. Well, with as much ease as carrying mini-boulders up a mountain could be.

After that, rain or shine, Shego had required her to go down to the bottom of the steps, grab her weights, and go all the way to the top of the steps that lead to almost the top of the mountain. The first time Kim reached the top, she was too tired to admire the pagoda built near the edge of the mountain that overlooked the whole valley. Vast areas of wilderness stretched out before her, but she was too wrapped up in dreading the descent to the bottom with her load. However, after a time, she could sit at the top for a while before heading back down. Some times Shego went with her, other times she didn't.

They both were busy. Kim with her training, and Shego with keeping house. Cheung would come occasionally with food that Shego would cook. He would never stay long, so it was basically just Kim and Shego all the time. Kim now knew what a house-wifey Shego looked like. Very scowl-y and cute. She swept the floors and cleaned house very well. Usually after dinner. Kim would help, but she would watch Shego out of the corner of her eye.

Their relationship had been... odd to say the least. The dynamic between them had to be changed, since they were faced with each other, day in and day out. It was awkward for the both of them. For the sake of their station in life, even though they knew it was slightly ridiculous, they had kept the animosity up between them sporadically. But most other times, they would find themselves at ease with each other and found that they enjoyed the other's company. Which was confusing. Stuck with your mortal enemy, it was trying to keep up feelings of hatred towards each other when one lived in close quarters. And shared meals. And washed dishes. And cleaned house. Together.

Kim Possible took a deep breath of the moisture-soaked air, slipping deeper into the water until she was submerged to her chin. There was always a day or so of rest every few days or so in between Shego's inventive exercises, to let her heal and worry about the next assignment. When her taskmaster had deemed she had mastered the weights, Kim's burden changed to two buckets of water. Using a thick, flat staff, Shego had padded her shoulders and back with cloth, showed Kim how she should hold it, and hung the two buckets of water at either end, asking her to go all the way up the mountain without spilling a drop. That took an entire day, even though the new load was so much lighter than the weights they unbalanced her. By the time Kim was back at the bottom of the mountain, she had lost half the contents of each bucket.

It didn't help that Shego had joined her and decided to trip her or push her as she went up. The pushes had escalated to light punches and kicks, which Kim either dodged or tried to absorb so none or a minimal amount of water would spill out of the buckets. The abuse had also escalated, the hits gaining more power behind them. When she snapped at Shego, Shego would shrug and tell her "don't blame me cuz you can't keep water in a bucket". Shego always complained about not being satisfied with the progress Kim was making. It was always 'she wasn't fast enough' or 'she spilled too much water'. Well, the speed she could work on, but the spilling of the water... who's fault was that!

Kim soldiered on and after what seemed like forever, only spilled small cupfuls of water, even when Shego 'encouraged' the spills. Kim's fingers prodded at the bruises on her body, taking inventory. Today, Shego had aimed a punch at her, and the young heroine had braced herself for it when she saw that there would be no way she would be able to dodge the punch.

Ducking her head under water, Kim let out a scream of frustration. The hit had knocked the air out of her, and in the first time since the first week, she slipped and fell. Her buckets had toppled off the ends of her pole and the water drenched the steps around her. Kim had just a little more to go, and she would've been near the top.

"You've spilled all the water," Shego clucked her tongue, a noise of exasperation. "Go back to the bottom and get some more. Then start all over again."

Kim had lost it then and struck out at Shego, and they had duked it out on the steps. The collection of new bruises that coloured her body was the results of the little spat they had.

A shadow fell over her, alerting her to someone's presence in the bathroom. Kim broke the surface of the water, wiping the water from her eyes. Looking up hatefully at Shego, Kim was too angry to cover up her nudity.

"Don't you know how to knock?" Kim asked angrily. The two had gotten along spectacularly well, despite the circumstances that brought Kim to Er-mei. In truth, Kim found that she had grown to like the time she spent with Shego, enjoyed her quirkiness, her sarcasm, and well, just her overall presence.

But right now, she wasn't liking Shego too much.

Shego crossed her arms, scowling at Kim. "I knocked. You didn't hear me. I thought you fell in."

"Oh, how nice of you to check on me." Kim said sarcastically, not sounding very grateful at all. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to tell you I already ate my dinner." Shego said snappishly, prickled by the tone of Kim's voice. "I left yours in your room. You can eat there."

"Fine!"

"Fine!" Shego retorted and stalked out, knocking over the little wooden table that had Kim's towel on it.

"Real mature!" Kim shouted after the hot-tempered woman.

* * *

The next morning, Kim left her room and barely avoided stepping into her breakfast. She looked down at her meal, feeling her ire rise at the way half her drink had been slopped over the side, and her eggs and bacon had been fried to a crisp. Her toast was soggy from the spilled drink and a mushy apple sat dejectedly on the breakfast tray. There were no utensils.

And there was Shego, in the middle of the meticulously kept garden, doing taichi. Kim's eyes narrowed at the calm expression on the brunette's face as she went through the motions slowly.

"Hey!"

Shego showed no signs of hearing the red-head, even though several songbirds lifted from their perch around the garden, making scandalized bird noises at being so rudely disturbed. Shego's hair had been tied up loosely, a serene look plastered on her face.

"Shego, I'm talking to you!"

Shego continued her slow-motion movements, completely centered and apparently oblivious to everything around her.

Infuriated beyond anything else, Kim grabbed her breakfast and slammed the door loudly. Shego's grim smile was the only thing that tipped off the fact that she could very well hear Kim, as she continued her exercise. A few minutes later, Kim had finished her breakfast hurriedly, made her way to the kitchen to clean her dirty dishes. With that done, she left the house, casting Shego evil looks as she raced out to begin her exercises.

It was driving the red-head crazy. Shego, that is. She stretched herself soundly dimly feeling the warm rays of the morning sun, thoughts racing a mile a minute as she contemplated the brunette's cruelty from yesterday. Kim's side still ached from the punch from yesterday, as she raced down the steps to her stick and buckets. The training was ridiculous. It consisted of carrying things up and down a mountain.

'What am I doing here?' For the first time since... a very long time, she asked herself that question. How long has it been? Trying to keep track of the days was almost impossible. Each day bled into the next in obscurity, her sense of time dulled by hard work. There were too many times when she had tried to keep track of the days, but it was too hard. Mind-numbing exercise made her forget to mark the days off on the bottom of her vanity desk.

Her family.

Kim missed them so much, but had resigned not to ask Shego about them anymore. When the two women had started getting a bit more comfortable with each other, and Kim asked if she could contact her family; Shego had explained to Kim that if she kept with that line of thought, she would have to break the redhead's legs. So Kim had pushed her homesickness away. Shego had helped, keeping Kim too loaded down with work to think about anything besides what she was supposed to be doing, only having time to think about family and friends when she was about to fall asleep.

At the bottom of the steps, Kim got her two buckets and wandered off into the forest where Shego had shown her a little stream ran merrily by. Filling her buckets, she went back to the step and looked up at the steps grimly. Kim didn't know how, but she knew Shego should be coming down to meet her. And not even a quarter of the way up, she saw the woman sitting there, relaxed, looking up through the green foliage.

Determined to get all the way up without spilling anything, she passed by Shego cautiously--and barely managed to avoid a lightning fast sweep. Kim jumped out of the way, tensing as she heard the water sloshing around the bucket precariously. But not a drop fell.

Shego's face stretched into a predatory grin and her eyes glinted dangerously. "Oh, very good Kimmie."

Kim squared her shoulders. It was going to be a long day...

Slowly, Kim made her way up the mountain, with Shego as a constant obstruction to her upwards climb. But to her credit, she had managed to keep every drop of water in the buckets. She could barely believe it when she made it into the pagoda. Weak-kneed and with a collection of new bruises, she watched Shego warily, who had sat down, fanning herself in the shade of the pagoda.

"Time out." Shego made a 'T' with her hands. "Lunchtime."

Kim knelt down, carefully lowering the buckets to the ground. Shego slipped off her backpack, and dug out two lumps of rice wrapped in plastic wrap; one of which she threw to Kim.

"Sticky rice?" Kim unwrapped it, examining the contents.

"Yeah," Shego drawled, watching Kim take a small bite. The villain chuckled. "Afraid I'm going to poison you, Kimmie?"

"No," Kim took a larger bite now. "I was afraid your cooking might've slipped from the looks of breakfast this morning."

Shego's eyes narrowed. "Okay, you got me. I was being childish. So sue me."

Kim eyed Shego for a good few minutes, then let out a tiny chuckle.

"What?"

Kim shrugged, enjoying her lunch. It was just a lump of rice with meat filling inside, but it was extremely good, especially after such a challenging climb. They ate in silence, acknowledging the truce. Shego never said sorry, Kim was used to it. For the dark-haired woman to apologize... well, that would be going against everything Shego was. From what Kim knew, anyways.

"What day is it today?" Kim asked, using her thumb to push a stray piece of rice into her mouth. "I feel like I've been here forever."

Shego chuckled. "Feels long, doesn't it? It hasn't been a month yet in the outside world."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "So how long?"

"How long do you think you've been here?" Shego took out a little thermos and took a sip. Tightening the cap, she tossed it at Kim, who caught it easily and took a drink. "We're going by the lunar calendar here. Next full moon marks one month."

Kim nodded slowly, remembering last night, as she went back to her room from the bath, she had looked up and seen a waxing half-moon hanging in the sky. Odd, though. Kim could've sworn more days than that had passed...

"Look." Shego's sudden excited whisper drew Kim from her thoughts, and pointed out towards the mountain. A huge crane was flying by, wings spread, its white feathers unblemished by any impurities except for the brilliant crimson forehead and the black feathers, like long brushstrokes, trailing from its eyes down to its neck, and tipping the edges of its wings. The sun's light gave the bird an almost unearthly glow.

"Oh," Kim gasped as the magnificent bird opened its beak to let out a melodic cry. The two stayed silent as the bird circled closer, still calling out mournfully. As it flew closer, Kim suddenly realized something about the huge crane... it was bigger than she thought. In fact, she was certain the crane was almost as big as a baby elephant. Wait. Scratch that. It was as big as a baby elephant! ...a baby elephant that had been eating all its vitamins...

"That," Shego said, still with that excited tone in her voice, "Is a xian he."

"A what?" Kim spared Shego a glance, but immediately turned back to the giant crane which had lighted delicately in a faraway marsh, and started preening its feathers.

"A fairy crane." replied Shego.

Kim and Shego watched the xian he for a while before Kim hesitantly posed a question. "Like... that species is called a fairy crane? Or fairy crane?"

"Fairy crane." Shego shuddered in pleasure as the crane let out another mournful cry. "I thought they would have all left by now. But not this one."

"Like... fairy as in... magic?"

Shego gave Kim an annoyed look. "Yeah."

"Yeah, okay." Kim made a 'psh' sound. "Pull the other one."

"That's an honest to god mythical bird come to life." Shego insisted.

Kim rolled her eyes. "Okay, why is it here then?"

"Probably pit stop. Immortal birds don't need to eat or rest. But they're lazy and vain." Shego smirked at the bird, who had canted its head towards the pagoda, its black eyes gleaming with intelligence.

"Oh my god, its going to eat us!" Kim ducked.

"No, I'm telling you, its soooo vain. Probably just making sure we see it." Shego openly stared at the bird, and in response, the xian he spread its wings proudly, showing off its spectacular wing span. "See? Vain!"

The legendary avian let out another cry, that sounded suspiciously like bird-talk for "Look at me!"

"Wow." Kim watched the bird, mouth agape as it flapped its wings. Miraculously, the wind that should've been coming from that impressive wing span didn't disturb a thing. Lifting off soundlessly, it circled the marsh; on one of its rounds, it circled close to the pagoda, and let out another beautiful cry.

The mystical bird's chest puffed out in pride as it caught Kim's awestruck expression and her breathless, "wow..."

"Show-off!" Shego shook her fist at the giant bird, grinning, and the xian he veered away, flying off into the distance.

Kim focused her eyes on Shego, almost beside herself with excitement. "You said 'they'. There are more of them!"

"I don't know if there's a whole flock of xian he, if that's what you're asking." Shego rubbed the back of her head thoughtfully, "Maybe? I dunno. When the xian he comes, there's only one." Shego shrugged, as if that was the end of that.

But Kim wasn't done. "So... 'others', like... other things?"

"There are a lot of other ones..." Shego waved her hand irritably, as if swatting a fly. "You should read up on your Chinese myths. You'd be surprised to find out that a lot of myths are very much real." Shouldering her backpack, Shego started down the mountain. Picking up her burden hurriedly, Kim followed Shego as quickly as she could.

"But I don't know Chinese," Kim huffed. "Shego, could you teach me Chinese?"

* * *

The bird was a good omen, because that day, Kim made it all the way back down without spilling a drop. Shego, though Kim knew the woman didn't want to admit it, was pleased. So pleased that after dinner, Shego produced a plate of red, round fruit and placed it on Kim's table.

"What is it?" Kim picked one up. It was about the size of a ping-pong ball, maybe a bit smaller, and it was encased in a rough rind. She tapped it on the ground experimentally. Shego sat down in front of her and picked up one of the things.

"Lychee." Shego smiled at Kim indulgently. "Watch." Shego placed the fruit between her frontt teeth and bit down just enough to make an incision. Then, using her fingers, she popped it open, remind Kim very much of how the insides of an egg escapes the shell. A transparent, yet slightly milky juice leaked out and rolled down the pad of Shego's hand to her wrist. Transfixed, Kim watched Shego pop the juicy fruit in her mouth and work it thoroughly, before spitting out a glossy brown nut and placing it on a napkin to be disposed of later.

"And that," Shego smacked her lips. "Is lychee."

Kim was captivated by the sight of Shego tongue running from pale-skinned wrist to thumb, in a bid to capture the lychee juice that had leaked onto her hand.

"I-I know what lychee is," Kim babbled, laughing a bit too loudly. "Just, you know, they were a-already peeled and seeded... and in a can..."

"Well, fresh ones are better than the canned ones." Shego picked up another lychee, completely oblivious to the fact that Kim had been watching her with a bit too much interest. "Try one."

Kim picked one up obediently and mimed Shego's actions. The fruit was juicy and so sweet. Not to the point where it was unbearable, but sweet to the point where you craved more after you had finished one.

"This is so good."

"Told you so." Shego picked up another fruit, and sucked up a few stray juices from her fingers when she opened the lychee. "They're so messy to eat, though."

Kim, again, had been rendered stupid by that display. Shaking herself quickly out of it, she grunted in assent and kept her eyes to her own lychee. They ate with relish, the treat was welcome respite for the both of them. Soon, there was only one lychee left, and both women noticed it at once, and quickly exchanged looks before lunging at the poor lychee at once. Laughing, they knocked the lychee out of each other's hands, dived for it when it came lose from their grasp, fought to reach it when it rolled from them and pulled at each other to keep the other from getting it.

Finally, Shego dived, rolled, and stood up with the lychee in her clutches. Blowing on it to loosen any dust that might have clung on, Shego ripped off the rind and popped the juicy meat in her mouth, before throwing her head back and laughing maniacally. Which prompted her to choke on the lychee.

"Serves you right!" Kim grinned from her position on the floor. In the scuffle, Kim had ended up on her back and laughed as Shego choked. When the villainess' face started turning purple, Kim stopped laughing and scrambled to her feet.

"Hey, you're joking, right?"

Shego clutched at her throat and glared at Kim as her face rapidly went from purple to blue. Running behind Shego, Kim administered the heimlich manoeuvre, causing the lychee to pop out back into Shego's mouth.

"I'm okay," Shego coughed, her hand over her mouth to keep the offending lychee in. "I'm... okay."

"You," Kim looked at Shego, bug-eyed, her arms still around Shego. The dark-haired woman, meanwhile, was happily eating the lychee and spat out the seed into her hand. "are joking me. You ate it!"

"Waste not, want not." Shego quoted sagely.

Kim knocked her head against Shego's back in despair as she realized something: Her arch-foe, the bane of her existence... was an idiot.

"I like lychee," Shego wiggled in Kim's arms. "And stop banging your head against me."

* * *

endnote: So how you like it? Shego might be a little bit OOC near the end, and I blame it all on the lychee I've been eating:D Who wouldn't fight for the last one! Even if I choked on it and coughed it back up and the lychee fell on the floor... FIVE SECOND RULE! I would wash it and eat it again! But if my mother was in the near vicinity, I would throw it away cuz my mother would murder me for eating something off the floor. 


	11. birds will sing

Birds will sing...

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M.

Ai... I feel so guilty. I should be working on my Killings series, but I've come up against a mental block. But a few new tricks is still going strong... Hope you guys enjoy, cuz I enjoy writing this :)

* * *

It was a day of rest, after a few days of mind-numbing exercises. And to pass the time, Kim had teasingly suggested that Shego invest in a tan. Kim was now in the process of regretting her jibe.

Not that the place Shego had chosen for their excursion wasn't lovely. Er-Mei was chockful of natural wonders, it just took a little searching to find them. Shego, apparently, was very familiar with the area and had lead Kim to a sparkling waterfall that spilled into a deep large pool. Moist, dark earth surrounded the edge and trees dipped their branches into the crystal clear water. Sunlight bathed the area, reflecting off the pool of moving water and gave the area the illusion of light dancing in the clearing.

No, the beautiful setting wasn't what was making Kim regret coming here. It was the fact that, while she was floating aimlessly in the water, she was uncomfortably aware of the fact that a topless Shego was sun-bathing near the shore.

The clothes Shego had brought for Kim and herself did not include swimsuits. So Shego had decided that swimming in their bras and panties would do. Kim had agreed with the idea too. The problem was when Shego had unclipped her bra, and then turned over to face the sun, her perky('ohmygod, did I actually think that?' Kim blushed) breasts pointed upwards, and Kim couldn't help but admire that physique. It was everything Kim had imagined it would be. Not that the redhead spent a lot of time imagining her enemies' bodies... yeah...

Drifting on her back, Kim tried to banish the thought of Shego's body. But the image was burnt into her head. It was definitely a body of a fighter, a body that people either wished they owned or wished they could worship. Her thoughts drifted from Shego's body, to what Shego did with her body, and Kim thanked the cool waters that kept her full-body blush in check.

'Who Shego did with that body of hers.' Kim moved her arms lazily, keeping her body afloat. Since the lychee incident, Kim had been... curious. That was the first time Kim noticed Shego exuded a natural sexuality that struck a disconcerting, but not unpleasant note in Kim. She didn't want to be rude and dig around Shego's love life, so she kept her questions to herself. Kim Possible had always been... inquisitive. Ever since she was a child. As Mr. & Mrs. Dr. Possible could attest to, their oldest daughter poked her nose into every hole she could find, and asked questions as often as possible. And now, Kim wanted to ask about Shego and Fong.

What did they do when they were together?

How did they do it?

When did she find out she was attracted to women?

The idea of Shego's sexual orientation didn't bother her at all. She just wanted to know how someone came to that conclusion. Did it feel the same as with a guy?

"Hey."

Kim's ability to float left her abruptly, and she sunk like a stone, before kicking back to the surface and coughing up water. A still topless Shego watched her wryly. "Boo."

"You," Kim sputtered, brushing back a stray lock of wet red hair that had gotten in her eye. "Do you always just creep up on people like that!" Kim was motioning furiously with her arms and trying desperately not to look down at Shego's bare breasts. "What are you doing!"

"Swimming." Shego gave Kim a lascivious grin and leaned back into the water, floating away towards the churning waterfall. Over the sound of falling water, Shego's innocent question set Kim on guard. "Like what you see, Kimmie?"

Kim, hearing the note of challenge in Shego's voice, swam after the woman, determined not to be embarassed.

"What do you mean by that?" shouted Kim over the sound of the waterfall.

'Hook, line and sinker. Too easy, Kimmie.' Shego laughed inwardly. Outwardly, Shego shrugged, her relaxed body radiating indifference. "You know, the scenery. The mountains and the waterfall," Shego, deliberately ran her hands over her breasts and belly in a very casual, VERY sensual movement, knowing that Kim's eyes were glued on her. Shego took a deep breath and sunk under water, to surface bare centimetres away from Kim and purred the next words. "The privacy..."

Kim eeped, and lost the ability to tread water, sinking again, before regaining her ability to swim.

"Okay, that wasn't nice." Kim wiped water from her eyes. The cool water could not erase the apparent blush on her peaches-and-cream skin.

"I'm not nice, Kimmie. Don't you remember?" Shego smiled lazily at the other woman. "I'm a card-carrying, good guy butt-kicking bad girl."

Kim scoffed. "Not that bad if you managed to get yourself a girlfriend."

'So that's where you were heading to.' Shego sighed. Even though she didn't show it, the brunette missed Fong. She didn't want to think about the beautiful Chinese woman, though. It only made her realize more and more that the whole mess she was embroiled in was purely her fault.

"Ex-girlfriend." Shego said softly.

"How did you two, if you don't mind me asking--"

"I do." Shego hissed. Her mood had dipped considerably. She swam to shore, grabbing one of the towels she had brought and towelling herself off, aware that Kim had followed her and stood just a little bit behind her, watching her hesitantly. Shego turned around and looked at Kim grimly, incensed at the... worry that lined Kim Possible's face.

"Shego--" Kim reached out a hand, about to rest it on Shego's shoulder, but Shego was too fast. Avoided the hand, grabbed it viciously, and caught Kim's other hand that had automatically moved to try to free the other.

"What do you want, Kimmie?" Shego's words were spoken through clenched teeth, ignoring Kim's cry of pain as Shego's fingers dug into her flesh. "Are you curious?" Shego pulled Kim closer, pressed her against her bare body. The resultant struggle sent them crashing to the wet earth, With Shego straddling Kim, pinning her down. Rewarded the redhead's concern with vulgarity, as she moved her hips sggestively, the thin layer of their panties the only boundary between them.

"This what you're lookin' for?" Shego pressed hot lips against Kim's ear. "Some hot and heavy, girl-on-girl action? Experimentation?"

Kim screamed, "No!" and she pushed Shego away, twisted free from Shego's hands and slapped the fiery woman across the face before she could stop herself. Shego smiled grimly, caught Kim's hands again and pinned them to the ground.

"You listen," Shego said to her captive audience. "and listen good: Don't you EVER," Shego punctuated the word by tightening her grip on Kim's wrists briefly, "EVER, forget who I am to you. We're enemies. Remember that."

Shego pushed off Kim, scooped up her bra, and walked back in the direction of the house.

The full moon was almost here. In a day or so... Shego walked on, glancing at the sky. Even during the day, it was visible. Almost full.

Time to head back to the village.

* * *

"You guys okay?" Cheung asked when they had burst out of the underbrush. They didn't need to haul anything back from the house, so they went with just a small pack of clothes. Both of the women's faces were dark with rage.

"Just drive, Vince." Shego stormed passed the man and got in the front seat, slamming the door behind her. Kim followed close behind, getting in the back seat and slammed the door close, too.

"Ooookay..." The asian man got in the car, turning the car around and heading back to the village. There was complete silence in the car, only the drumming of Kim's nails on the window could be heard. After the waterfall disaster, Kim was happy to find out that the next day, they were heading back to the village. Kim's shock had crumbled into anger, and her snippy answers to Shego ruffled the villainess and caused them to have another shouting match before heading down the mountain to meet Cheung. They had descended the mountain in silence, and now sat in the car in silence.

"Could you not do that?"

"Do what?" Kim asked, drumming her nails louder.

"THAT!" Shego turned around and pointed to Kim's hand. "That tapping! STOP IT!"

"Make me!"

Shego ripped off her seatbelt and lunged over the seat at Kim.

"GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS!" Cheung held the wheel with one hand and tried holding Shego back with the other, but it was no use. Both girls were locked in a heated fight, trying to pound the other in the confined space of the jeep, as the vehicle careened wildly from side to side.

* * *

"What happened to you guys?" Fong noted the state of the car and asked Cheung, bemused. The man turned around, revealing the fact that his right eye was swollen shut by an ugly bruise.

Fong gave a low whistle, her face scrunched into a sympathetic grimace. "That must have hurt. What happened?"

Fong had watched the jeep's arrival at the east side of the village, breaking through the woods to screech to a halt in front of the people who had decided to wait on Cheung's return. Cheung exited from the passenger side, kicking the door closed behind him. Unfortunately, the door wouldn't close for some odd reason and he started swearing and kicking at it until it finally closed. Brushing off the questions the villagers asked him, he went to the front of the jeep and looked at the car in anguish. Shego came out of the driver side with a guilty expression on her face, and Kim exited from the back with a similar look on her face. While the two women were surrounded by villagers, Cheung was angrily examining the front of the jeep. The left side had been dented in, and Fong could tell by the brown marks around the area that he had probably hit a tree. The usually laidback man was so angry, Fong could see a vein pulsing on his forehead.

"Don't fucking ask." Cheung growled. Walking past Fong, the woman caught Cheung mumbling, "Fucking women are crazy!", before disappearing into the village.

"Shego?" Fong watched the woman step away from the crowd, glaring at Fong defiantly, as if daring her to say something. Kim behaved a bit better and had the decency to look ashamed. Some people watched the scene unfold, chuckling amongst themselves.

"What did you two do?"

"It was her fault!" Shego and Kim said simultaneously, then glared at each other.

Kim made a sound of pure frustration before following in Cheung's footsteps, rushing into the village. Everybody laughed out right. Some of the children grabbed Shego and Kim's bags and made off back towards the village, followed closely by the adults who gave the two remaining women looks that clearly said 'behave'.

"What did you do?"

Shego glared at Fong. "Why is it always something I did?"

"Please," Fong rolled her eyes. "I know you better than that."

Shego rolled her eyes. "Whatever, its not like it was anything big."

Fong shook her head. "You're too much." Shego spread out her hands in a 'what did I do?' gesture and Fong rolled her eyes again. "Like I said, don't give me that. I bet it was totally and utterly your fault. You just like antagonizing people until they snap at you."

"Hey, I don't antagonize everyone!"

"You antagonize plenty," Fong crossed her arms and looked at Shego disbelievingly. "I can't believe you would even try to DENY the fact that you rub a lot of people the wrong way! Especially me!"

Shego's head shot up. "Don't make this about you and me."

Fong threw her hands up in the air, feeling completely helpless. "Yeah, sure. Lets not talk about it. Lets not tell people we're not seeing each other anymore! Oh, wait, nobody knew for sure if we WERE seeing each other in the first place--"

"I told her." Shego's words cut the asian girl off. The green-eyed thief looked at Fong intently. "I told her that we're together. Were together. I told Kim."

"You told her about us?" Fong asked, delighted, her anger forgotten. Shego rarely talked about 'us'. The smile fell from the Chinese woman's lips just as quickly as it appeared, though. "A little too late though, isn't it?"

"Better late than never." Shego reached out to touch Fong, but seeing Fong shake her head, she pulled her hand back apologetically. "I'm sorry. Its... hard for me."

"Hard for you?" Fong's voice took on a bitter edge. "How do you think I feel, Shego?"

"Mich--"

"No, Shego. I don't want your 'its for your own good'..." Fong shook her head sadly. She reached out, and Shego leaned into Fong's hand, closed her eyes at the feel of that hand, turned her head and brushed her lips briefly against those hands. Fong shivered at those soft lips. Lips that dropped scathing words like acid. But could give her such a cleansing kiss. Fong backed away, clutching her hand as if burned. "Take me with you. If you love me, take me with you." Fong demanded, eyes narrowed to slits. Knowing the answer, but asking anyways.

As expected, Shego frowned, annoyed. Shook her head. "No. We talked about this. I would die if I had to take you up there, Fong." Shego's face had constricted in pain.

"Don't go all melodramatic on me," Fong chuckled weakly, her voice took on a pleading note. "Please, Shego."

"Don't." Shego heard her voice, it sounded faraway and distant, like it wasn't her saying these words. "Don't, Michelle. Its over. We had our fun. I just want this to be over."

Shego said everything without flinching. Grinded her heart under a compassionate heel. Of course, Fong would never see it that way, as her eyes hardened with grief. But nothing could be done.

Shego's head snapped to the side, felt the sting of Fong's hand against her cheek, right on top of the slap that Kim had given her the day before.

Watched Fong turn away from her and walk back to the village.

* * *

Cheung wasn't one to stay angry for long. He was rational, and he would go over events in his mind until he had stoppered each source of his anger. In his mind, as he had stormed through the village, he went through the list of things that he was mad about.

1. His black eye.

Cheung soothed his indignition at being belted across the face by patting himself on the back and affirming that there was no lasting damage. The bruising will go down. Shego didn't mean to kick him in the eye.

2. His car crash.

Accidents happen.

3. The car.

Here, Cheung's ire rose. He had taken care of the jeep, changed the oil, tuned it, kept it working. He was attached to the vehicle. But brutally, he made himself remember that the jeep was getting on on its years. It had a lot of mileage on it and the repairs wouldn't be worth the entire vehicle.

'Besides,' Cheung sniggered, 'I didn't buy it.'

Shego had bought it, but since she was on Er-Mei all the time, it was Cheung who drove it around. Shego would probably buy another one. Maybe an off-road vehicle that had more torque, more power. Things weren't that bad. The car still ran even after it hit a tree, his passengers was okay. Life didn't suck. He had his health, his daughter and--

"Hey Cheung, wait up!" Kim's voice floated to him, and he slowed down for the other girl, now completely calm and quite cheerful at that. The redhead approached hesitantly. "I'm so sorry Cheung--"

"Eh, its nothing." Cheung grinned cheerfully. "I was just a little pissed before. And nobody was hurt too bad, so its fine."

"You sure?" Kim winced at the sight of Cheung's horrible black eye. "Hey, maybe we should put some ice on that or something."

"Oh, yeah." Cheung touched his eye gingerly, and swore out loud when the resultant pain felt something equal to a knife in the head.

"Come on, lets go to the kitchen, maybe they have some ice..."

"We got no fridge. But lets go to the water pump and get some water. The water there is kinda cold, I'll just run this under the tap for a while." Cheung grinned lopsidedly. "Jesus, you girls pack a punch."

"Glad you found it so enjoyable," Kim joked and slapped him on the back. As they travelled quickly with Cheung as a guide, since Kim wasn't familiar with the twists and turns of the village, she noticed that there seemed to be an excess amount of... red.

"Hey, Cheung?" Kim looked around at the general redness.

"Hm?"

"Why's everything so red?"

Cheung let out a light laugh and grinned at Kim. "Well, red is a festive colour. And a wedding is always a festive ocassion in the village."

Kim looked about in wonder. "Wow. I wish I could see."

"Well, you're invited, of course. Everybody is." Cheung smiled charmingly. "Shego's gonna be coming to my wedding, I'm pretty sure she's not gonna just leave you alone."

"That's so ni--" Kim did a double-take. "YOUR WEDDING?"

"Yup. One that I missed years ago. It was arranged when I was a child," Cheung explained. "The village didn't have any children and the elders were afraid the village would die out. Its very important that our descendants carry on what we do here." Kim suddenly remembered the innate knowledge of martial arts that everyone seemed to have, from the morning she left for Er-Mei. "The day of the marriage was arranged and everything, but I had gone and knocked up someone else, so obviously, the marriage wouldn't take place."

"I didn't mean to sound... so amazed. But, wow. Congratulations!" Kim hugged Cheung briefly. Even though she had known the young man for a short amount of time, he had gone out of his way to make her feel comfortable, and had lessened the shock of being suddenly ripped from her familiar life in Middleton. He was a friend, and Kim sincerely felt happy for him. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"You've met her already," Cheung smiled brightly. "Wong Hiu Fong. Michelle."

Kim froze in her tracks. She regarded Cheung, and judged, from the genuinely happy expression on his face, that he wasn't joking. But just to be sure...

"You're... joking, right?"

"Naw. The elders picked a date already." Cheung watched her in amusement. "Just a few days before the next full moon."

* * *

endnote: DUNDUNDUN! I dunno, guys, I dunno. 


	12. as if they knew

...as if they knew...

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M.

Thank you for liking this and letting me go off on this. :D All your questions will be answered in due time!

They were eating with a random family, a huge one at that, and chattering away in Chinese to each other. Kim couldn't help glancing at Shego intermediately over the large round table. The green-eyed villain showed no sign of distress. The redhead knew news about Fong and Cheung's impending marriage could not have missed Shego. What was the dark-haired woman thinking?

'I need to learn Chinese,' Kim thought dazedly, as a child spoke to her in rapid-fire gibberish. Kim was treated very warmly, as people toasted her in Chinese. Though there was a communications barrier, Kim could well interpret a raised cup. The heroine would return the gesture, and sip at her beer gingerly. When someone had first pressed a cup of beer into her hands, she had refused, trying to tell them that she was still underage.

"Underage in the states," Shego had said in amusement, "But not here in China."

So Kim had partaken in her first beer. Ever the good girl, Kim's alcohol consumption had been limited to maybe a mouthful or two of bubbly champagne every new year's celebrations, but that was it. This being the first time she had imbibed freely in alcohol, she took tiny sips. Seeing her trepidition, the whole table was conspiring to get her drunk, guessing correctly Kim had never drank before. The redhead was already nearing the end of her second beer and could feel her mind going fuzzy and felt an all-encompassing sense of well-being. While Kim was currently being encouraged to drain her cup in one draught, Shego, however, refused drink. She instead concentrated on shovelling food into her mouth.

"Kim!" An older man raised his cup of beer at her, a teasing look in his eye.

"Hey!" Kim replied cheerfully, waiting for someone to fill her cup, and draining it quite happily.

The end of the night found Shego leading the way as two young men supported Kim, one on each side, back to Shego's place. Arriving at the empty house, Shego took over the care of Kim, wondering how she got into this predicament.

"I... dun need your help.." Kim slurred, trying to tug away. But Shego just ignored Kim's drnken ramblings and helped the girl into the room she had stayed in her first night in the village.

"Hey, Shego." Kim lay in bed, watching Shego air out the sheets and tuck her in.

"Yeah?" By the time Shego answered, Kim had already fallen asleep. Shego shook her head and poked the younger woman maliciously. "What, no stupid questions?"

Kim rolled over, frowning and muttering, deep in her beer-induced sleep. Shego shook her head and sat down at the edge of the bed, looking at Kim.

"You shouldn't trust me this much, you know." Shego said breezily, safe in the knowledge that Kim wouldn't hear a thing she said to her right now. "Haven't I taught you anything?"

Shego reached over and fingered the long red hair that the children in the village stared gleefully at. Twisting a strand around her fingers, she gave an experimental tug. Kim's mumbled groan and continual sleeping told Shego that Kim was slumbering deeply. Shego sighed and got onto the bed, sitting beside Kim's prone body, she sat back against the headboard and thought about the day's event. Fong's slap hadn't hurt that much, but the hurt Fong felt because of Shego... well, that put Shego in hell. It was so hard to do the right thing, to not grab Fong and just run for it. But she was stuck with her options, there were no other choices.

The whole thing was her fault. If Fong had gone to Er-Mei instead of Kim, they would be together. There would be no wedding. The wedding served the purpose of fulfilling the duty that every one of the villagers had. And that duty was closely connected to Er-Mei. If Fong had gone with her, the sabbatical to Er-Mei would have trumped any arranged marriage, but Shego had known there was no way in hell she would've let Fong win.

Shego looked at Kim's sleeping form, and asked the woman a question. "If you had two choices, and one was bad... but the other was considerably worse... which would you choose? If it was... between the life of someone you loved and someone you fought with everytime you saw them... who would you choose?"

Getting no reply from Kim, Shego sighed and got out of bed, going to the window. Throwing the window open, she leaned out and looked up at the moon. It was hard to miss. Just a fraction more, and the moon would be full. She could feel it in her blood. Tomorrow. Shego glanced over her shoulder, studying the lump in the bed. Her eyes narrowed.

Kim woke up to unfamiliar surroundings and felt a panic attack set on before she calmed herself down. She wasn't in her room in her parents' house because she was in China. She wasn't at Er-Mei, the second most familiar place to her, because she was in the village. There was a knock on the door.

"Hey, yeah, come in." Kim tried to run her fingers through the tangled mess of her hair, groggily taking in another beautiful day outside. She felt like something had died in her mouth.

The door burst open and Ting Ting came squealing into the room, followed closely by Fong who was bearing a pitcher of water. The asian woman smiled at Kim's startled look. "Hey, wasn't expecting us?"

"No," Kim smiled as the child jumped into her bed and immediately burrowed into the warm covers with Kim. The young woman laughed at Ting Ting's wild hair, usually tamed by two pigtails. The young girl's hair was yet to be brushed and stuck out at odd angles coupled with plenty of cowlicks, which did not take away from how adorable she was. Kim wondered if she should ask Fong where Shego was as she watched Fong place the pitcher on the table with the basin. The asian woman turned around just in time to catch Kim looking at her.

"Shego went back to Er-Mei early." Fong seemed to read Kim's mind. "She had some things to do there, so you'll be here for two more days."

Kim was slightly happy for the extended break from training. But the extra few days loomed in front of her. She had never realized until now that she depended on Shego so much for companionship, so much that the thought of spending time with other people felt overwhelming. How she felt must have relayed to Fong, who smiled comfortingly.

"She has that effect on me, too." Fong sat down at the edge of the bed, watching Ting Ting's fingers twine in Kim's hair, her devotion and love easily bought by Kim's other-worldliness, her exotic appeal. While Kim might have seen this world beyond her western sphere as strange, she never stopped to think that these people might view her in the same way. Her red hair was different, her pale skin was strange. She smelled of places that were not here, she breathed in air and transformed it to something foreign with her words that meant nothing to them. In their world, where outsiders rarely penetrated, Kim was the other, the outsider, the stranger.

"What effect?" Kim blurted out, blushing, and Fong laughed out loud, a joyful sound that Kim hadn't heard before.

"Not the kind you're thinking." Fong laughed, her voice mischevious. "Or maybe it is. Is there something you need to tell me?"

"No!" Kim's voice came out high-pitched and squeaky. Ting Ting giggled. Though people thought children didn't know about the relationship Shego and Fong had had together, children probably knew more about it than most people. Ting-Ting was one of those inquisitive children, set off to play alone in the safety of this village where next door neighbors were family, and everybody was a familiar face. Children had their own rumour mill, and at one time, it had spun with gossip about the new girl with flaming green eyes who had stolen a kiss from the kitchen-goddess, Fong. Fong, who made the most delicious desserts, Fong who was like stone, crumbled as Shego took a taste of the woman nobody else seemed to be able to get close to. Ting Ting had been young, very young. Too young to remember, some might say. But she was a strange child, and she remembered things amazingly well.

Clapping two small hands over her mouth, she suppressed a giggle when Fong looked at her and raised an eyebrow as if asking her what was so funny. In reply, Ting Ting lowered her hands and puckered her lips, making kiss-y noises.

"Ni ai Shego!" Ting Ting made her kissy-faces while saying that.

Fong nodded sadly, the sparkle leaving her eyes. "Wo ai Shego. Shego bu ai wo."

"Fong?" The sad note in Fong's voice pulled at Kim. It was the voice of someone who had given up, who had resigned. "Shego told me... you and her..."

"Were an item." Fong nodded. She needed to pour out her grief, somewhere where nobody close to her would know about but most of all, somewhere where she could hide the heavy burden of loving someone who disappointed you in the worse way. Kim was that somewhere. "Want to hear a story?" Fong continued, not even waiting for Kim's answer. "Three years ago, Shego followed me into the village, which was incredibly weird. She had seen me beat up a guy who thought I was just some helpless girl he could have fun with. Shego was looking for a fight. Unfortunately, she had picked a bad time to travel into the village. We were... having words with some monks."

"Monks?" Kim processed Fong's carefully thought out sentence. Fong nodded, and Kim had the vague idea that Fong wasn't giving her the whole picture.

"Anyways, Shego was found out in the mess, and she and I got into a bit of a tussle, while everybody else was dealing with the monks." Fong remembered the day so well. Shego had followed her, to her amazement, and confronted her in the confusion of fighting monks and villagers.

"How did you get in here!' Fong had asked angrily.

Shego had thrown off the cloak she had been wearing, revealing her striking green-and-black catsuit. "I followed you. You weren't exactly careful. And I wouldn't have expected a village to be in the middle of nowhere."

"Damn gwi-los!" Fong snarled, and had launched herself at a smirking Shego, who had been raring to go. As they fought, a monk had spotted them, and thinking that the strange woman with the glowing green fists was fighting a villager, joined in. Assuming someone was a friend just because you and that someone had a common enemy was not a good idea. The monk's interference had irritated Shego to no end, who blasted the monk into a building.

"Find your own fight!"

Fong had to admit that she was impressed, and even amused by this foreigner. Shego's blasting of the monk had sent all the other monks after Shego, deeming her to be the most dangerous person there. Shego didn't like being targetted, and fought back with a ferocity that Fong respected. When Shego was finally overwhelmed by numbers, Fong had jumped in. Shego didn't question the help, nor did she thank Fong for the intervention either. But she didn't refuse it like she did when that first monk had gotten between them.

"Cheung and I are getting married." The asian woman shook her head ruefully, clearing her mind of images of a battle-enraged Shego. "If you haven't heard already. Cheung and I... Vince and I, we're childhood friends. Really good ones, from what I remember. He had promised to marry me when he was older, you know, the things that children say when they're young. But our parents took it seriously, and we had a matchmaker arrange our marriage. We were compatible. When we were old enough, it was decided for us that we would tie the knot."

Ting Ting crawled into Fong's lap. In her mind, what the women were saying was not interesting to her. Though Kim's arms were warm and friendly, and her red hair was fun to play with, she craved change in scenery.

"He went off and got some girl pregnant, and here's Ting Ting out of that mess." Fong kissed the top of the young girl's head. "A year after I met Shego and we had... started seeing each other, Cheung came back with a child and news of the child's dead mother, meaning he was a bachlor again. His only remaining family member, his father, had returned to the village to live out his life, and he died before Shego came. It took Cheung a while to get back, because the post office couldn't track him down for a really long time. Took him a year or so to get his father's death notice. Once he was back though, the elders told him his father's dying wish was that he continue with the arranged marriage with me and raise a family here."

"You didn't want to?" Kim asked cautiously.

Fong shook her head. "No. I had Shego. Why would I want anything else?"

Personally, Kim thought Fong was crazy. Shego was angry, volatile, violent, vengeful, hateful, and all those other wonderful things. But Kim wasn't going to tell Fong that.

"Cheung respected my decision. Even though it was his father's dying wish, he refused to force me to continue on with something that I clearly didn't want. But it was duty, and I was bound to it." Fong grinned at Kim. "If I start sounding like Mulan, stop me."

Kim grinned at the mention of the historical Chinese heroine who had gone to war for her family in the guise of a man.

"Anyways, I thank god that that year he came back was so unlucky. There wasn't a day in it that I could get married in that was satisfactory," Fong was frowning at this point. "I prayed every day that I could find a valid excuse to cancel this marriage. I got my wish. One day, Shego had come back from one of her excursions to Er-Mei and announced that she would go off and look for someone to join her. So everybody wanted to be chosen and if Shego chose me, I wouldn't have to wed. I would be up there with Shego for forever if I wanted to, and never come down--"

"Sorry," Kim interrupted. "But... what's this duty? It must be something important if it could stop a marriage."

Fong paused and looked over at Kim, before replying mysteriously, "That's for Shego to tell you."

Kim pursed her lips in displeasure. If she had to wait for Shego to tell her something, she could wait forever!

"So when you came," Fong continued the story, "I was surprised."

Fong looked at Kim expectantly. The redhead blinked once, twice, then her mouth went dry.

"I'm so sorry."

Fong shrugged, but there was no way she could hide the hurt on her face. When it came to Shego, her emotions were wild and unchecked. She planned to put a stop to that. "It wasn't your fault. Shego brought you in because she knew you would win. She planned the fact that I wouldn't be able to go with her, she had already been hesitant to choose me. So I assume that she didn't..." Fong trailed off and took a deep breath. "...that she didn't want to be with me anymore. And this is a drastic way out of it. At least that's what I say to myself. I mean, if you could stop the person you love from marrying someone else by choosing to just be with them, wouldn't you?"

"Well, maybe you should try to work it out?"

Fong sighed. "Getting out of the village to go study... you know, it introduces you to new ideas, a whole new world. But this is the world that I came back to. And when I came back, I had readily accepted what was planned for me. I knew who I was going to marry and I had no problems with that. When Shego dropped into my world, I forgot all about what was important." As Fong talked, she tried her best to smooth down Ting-Ting's cowlicks, but they stayed up stubbornly. "The difference between before and now was Shego. If she wasn't a factor... I would marry Vince."

"Maybe you should talk to Cheung about it..." Kim offered hesitantly, being uncomfortable in the role of confidante. "He's an involved party, and I think it would be unfair to him if you just went and married him and you don't love him."

Fong smiled wryly and shook her head. "Marriage isn't about love, Kim. At least not here." Fong paused, but continued quickly when she saw that Kim looked about to protest. "And we have talked about it, don't get me wrong. Cheung isn't going to force me, like I said. He asked me if I would consider it. I sound conceited when I say this... but Cheung's always loved me."

Ting Ting perked up at the mention of her father. "Ba-Ba!"

Fong nodded. "Ni ger ba-ba." And switched back to English. "The marriage is convenient. This is something he wants. Even if his father hadn't suddenly died, he would have come back one day to find me. But because of Shego... all he wants is for me to be happy... He's a great guy. Shego was a bit jealous at first when he came back and she found out about the arranged marriage thing. But she got over it when Cheung bowed out. Shego and Cheung are good friends now. Still are, and its... hard for me. For Shego to be happy for me."

Kim nodded sympathetically; she could imagine herself in Fong's shoes. If she liked Shego and Shego did nothing to fight for her in this predicament, she would have been really mad. It sounded very unlike Shego, not to fight for something she wanted. Or maybe it was something she didn't want anymore, Kim didn't know. The heroine was struck by how little she knew of her arch-nemesis' personal life.

"When we fought, Shego struck a deal with you. And she struck one iwth me too." Fong pursed her lips together thoughtfully. "She had wanted to bring you, but I begged to differ. So she made a deal with me: if I could beat you, you would be sent home and I would go up to Er-Mei with her. If I lost, I would marry Cheung."

Fong grinned at Kim, who was floundering in the barrage of information that was given to her. "I'm not telling you this to blame you, because that would be wrong of me. I... just needed someone to listen to me. And... I needed to ask you a favour."

"Well, I'm not in any position to give out favours," Kim said jokingly. What did she have that she could give the girl anyways?  
"I just want you to... look out for Shego." Fong gave Kim a sad, lop-sided smile and fidgeted awkwardly. "Even if she might be invincible... but I still want someone to look out for her out there. Don't tell her I told you all this, okay?

"That's a given." Kim smiled impishly. "Well, since we're doing favours for each other, could you do one for me?"

"What is it?" Fong's relief was easy to see. Asking favours wasn't something that she did often, and she was uncomfortable being in someone's debt.

"Teach me Chinese."

Fong smiled at the request. "I hold lessons everyday for the pre-schoolers. If you want to, you'll have a seat right next to Ting Ting."

Cheung and Kim walked through the forest, Kim, barely managing to pick out the way. Shego's passage through the undergrowth was fading fast. The forest didn't see many visitors, and grew quickly to fill in the path of destroyed fauna Shego had left behind on her way back to the mountain. Good thing Cheung knew the way by heart.

"What you need to do is remember that that tree is there, and that cluster of bushes over there. Because those things hardly change. Nobody comes up around here besides us and Grandpa Cho." Cheung pushed away a hanging vine. "So you'll be back for the wedding?"

"Yeah," Kim drawled. The wedding... she had mixed feelings about. She didn't know if she should be happy for Cheung and Fong. The idea of two people who didn't love each other marrying was so weird to her.

"What?" Cheung asked, hearing the tone in Kim's voice.

"Nothing."

Cheung turned to glance at Kim, before continuing on. "When you were away, people told me that you and ah Fong had become close friends. I assume you two talked about it? About me and Fong, right? Or, to be more exact; me, Fong and Shego. Am I right?"

Kim didn't answer, but instead, concentrated on her path. She liked Fong. She liked Cheung. Shego was a different matter altogether. But she still wanted all three to be happy. But if one person was happy, there would be at least one person who would be unhappy.

"I know Fong and Shego were an item." Cheung shrugged. "I don't care. I'm going to marry Michelle."

"Why?" Kim couldn't help blurting out. This situation baffled her.

"Why? Like, why would I marry someone who's in love with someone else?" Cheung pushed aside a branch, accidentally snapping it. "It seems weird to you, because you're still young, Kim." Cheung added quickly, "I'm not that old, but ya know, I've been around. My view of the world is different from your view of the world, and you'd probably grow up less jaded than me about relationships... but I love Michelle. I don't mind that she's in love with someone else. It sounds bad, but she's going to be married to me, and she'll have to put up with me 24/7. I belong to her and she belongs to me."

Cheung laughed lightly. "I'll have forever to show her I love her, and that's all I really want, even if most people don't believe it. I started loving her when we were children, and after all this time, I haven't stopped loving her. Cheesy, ain't it?"

Kim managed a weak chuckle. Cheesy, but terribly romantic in that hopeless kind of way.

"Here we are," Breaking through the foliage, the stairs loomed in front of them. Cheung handed Kim the backpack of rations he had been hauling, and Kim slipped it on in front after she had done her stretches. The challenge the stairs held called to her, and she could feel the adrenaline rushing through her in anticipation to a very good workout. "Shego'll be at the top waiting for you most likely."

"She's a slavedriver." Kim nodded. She paused for a moment, studying Cheung. Then she gave him a genuine smile and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Congratulations, Cheung. I really mean it."

Cheung grinned, pulling her into a hug despite the pack between them. "Thanks, Kim. I'll see you next month for the wedding."

Kim nodded. Trotting over to the stairs, she paused to pick up two of the stone weights, and started up on the stairs, taking two at a time. Her thoughts flew away from her as her mind focused on the in-and-out of her breathing, her steps, her muscles straining to perform to the best of their abilities. Kim felt herself bemoaning the long period of rest she got, and caught herself.

'Only you would complain about getting a holiday,' Kim thought to herself. A workaholic through and through, she was one of those people who relaxed from work by working some more. That was the only stray thought she allowed in, before her body demanded that her mind keep its attention on its coordination. Topping the steps, she could see the old-fashioned house with its beautifully curved rooftops peeking out from behind the white-washed walls that surrounded the sprawling household.

Putting the weights down, she hurried to the house, a but unsettled at the thought that had surfaced in her mind when she looked at the building. Home.

Pushing open the doors, she closed them behind her and quickly went through the audience area, pushing open the windows.

'Odd. On such a nice day, Shego would keep these windows open to air out the place...'

Arriving at the inner sanctum, Kim froze.

The doors to Shego's room were open. They were never open, and almost always kept firmly shut. Not knowing why she felt worried, Kim abandoned her packs on the floor and ran the remaining steps to Shego's room. Stopping for just one second, she stepped over the threshold and into the room.

It was dark. The windows were closed tight, and unlike the rest of the rooms in the house, there were bamboo blinds set over each window, and each one was pulled down. The room was a mess. Pillows and sheets lay on the ground, furniture was overturned, the general orderliness that was common within this house was not in this room. Kim went to the windows and pulled the blinds up, pushing open windows, blinded momentarily by the sunlight flooding into the room.

"Augh..." A groan came from the bed. Kim was at the bedside in an instance, tugging away sheets, feeling panicked when she saw dark patches in the sheets, like--

"Blood." Kim felt her insides grow cold.

"Xaio Qing..." Shego whispered feverishly, her brow drenched with sweat. Working fast, Kim ripped open Shego's t-shirt in an effort to find out where the blood was coming from. It was everywhere, on the clothes, crusting sheets together... Kim had never seen this much blood before. Seeing no marks on Shego's upper body, Kim looked around the room, quickly spotting a pair of scissors tossed into a corner. Kim grabbed those, and frantically cut up Shego's loose jeans from the bottom up. There on her right leg, Kim spied two long gashes, black and sticky with coagulated blood. Kim breathed out a sigh of relief. Shego wouldn't be bleeding to death any time soon.

"Shego," Kim leaned over the woman, could hear the short shallow breaths. "Shego, wake up. Wake up."

A bleary, blood-shot eye opened to look at Kim lazily. "K.. Kimmie..."

"Yeah, that's right. Stay awake for me, Shego." Kim felt that pressure that she didn't even know had settled around her insides relax. Shego was alright. She was responding.

"What..." Shego looked around, disoriented. "Where... Kimmie, Xaio Qing... what... what day is it?"

Kim wished that she could progress past the pre-school texts Fong had assigned her. What was Xaio Qing? "Its been two days since you left me at the village. Remember? Shego, wake up!"

Shego's eyes blinked open and she frowned. "Two days? Its been... no..." The villainess tried to get up, but fell back onto the bed, groaning in pain.

"You wait here, okay? Just stay here and don't move, I'll be right back." Kim, noting that Shego had fallen back into unconsciousness, raced out of the room to the kitchen. Shego always boiled a kettle of water everyday. She was hoping, despite the mess Shego was in--

"Yes!" Kim grabbed the kettle, ecstatic that it was full of water. Running back to Shego, she was just in time to see the woman roll off the bed and hit the floor. Her muffled cry jarred Kim into motion.

"I've got you," Kim hefted Shego up. "I've got you."

endnote: Woohoo!


	13. today's the day, we say I do!

...today's the day, we say I do!

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M.

I hope my pacing's okay. I've been spitting chapters out really fast and not taking the time to read them over... oh, and like I said, I suck at writing training scenes. And all your questions will be answered in due time. I know, some of you have been asking me, 'what about Ron? what about the Possibles? Why can't Wade find them?' All questions I keep in the back of my mind that will be answered in due time:D But in this chapter, I will give you what you guys have allllll been waiting for. Well, not all of you. Most of you. And believe me, I wanted this just as much as anybody else!

The chapters just keep coming, eh? Boomboomboomboomboom! Are you happy? Review if you're happy!

* * *

Kim sat on top of a pole, a brief respite from her intense training. Shego had added another creative little exercise to her daily routine, while insisting she carry on with her trek up the mountain with either the weights or the buckets. 

The new exercise consisted of an obstacle course made up of wooden poles, sunken into the marsh the xian he had frequented last time. It was a balancing exercise, where Shego had demonstrated the various poses Kim would be in on top of each pole. It helped with balance, Shego said. It was her lunchtime, and Kim munched on the sandwich that Shego had packed for her. A bunch of marshland birds (of the none mystical variety) watched her from the water below, hoping that she would drop her lunch. The first few times doing this exercise, Kim had fallen off. Not only did she gather a few good bruises, but the murky water clung to her in all its smelly glory. The lunch Kim had tucked in her tunic had been lost to the birds. The night of, she had sat at the edge of the baths, taking a pan and dousing herself with water, hoping to wash the stench off. Leeches had also found its way on her, and she shuddered, remembering how Shego had to help her get the leeches off, laughing at how Kim Possible was near mindless with fear. Kim remembered quite vividly the thick, squiggly creatures that had clamped resolutely on her skin. They were large, grotesque and gorged on her blood.

Ew.

Kim's thoughts drifted from that unpleasant memory to Shego. For some odd reason, she found that that was who she thought of the most. Of course, when she could, she thought about her family and friends, whether they were worried about her or not, how they were, if they were okay... but Shego was always there, laughing at her, instructing her, talking to her... she can't help but think of the enigma that she had fought for so long... and her mind wandered to that day she had found Shego, bloodied and feverish in bed.

Shego didn't limp anymore, the gashes on her legs weren't as deep as Kim had thought they were at first. All that was left of the wound were two long thin scars. Shego had grimaced when Kim asked how she gotten her wounds and made Kim swear not to tell anybody about her getting hurt, before she told her.

"The owner of this house, my shi fu," Seeing the blank look on Kim's face, Shego translated. "My master. Wasn't happy with me."

"Your master?" The revelation stunned Kim. The teenager was unravelling the bandages she had wound around Shego's injured leg, having taken it upon herself to wait on Shego. Kim had found out that though Shego was injured, it didn't mean a less demanding Shego. It just meant a less mobile Shego who complained about Kim's field dressings on her leg, her infrequent rounds up the mountain; anything Shego could complain about, she did.

'Who do you think is cutting into my training time!' Kim would rage to herself. But the redhead was always aware, when she left to do her exercises, she would always be sent away with a packed lunch. And when she came back, there would be a meal ready for her.

"Yes. My shi fu." Shego chuckled, but the sound was devoid of any humour. "You think I learned how to fight here by myself? Trained here by myself? Yes, I had someone with me."

Who was this mystery person? Kim looked up at the sky. And why had they hurt Shego? What was Xaio Qing? The brunette was being as elusive as ever. Hanging there in the sky like a ghostly pearl, the moon was visible again, and it was almost the end of the month. Kim had stopped attempting to measure the days she was here, forgot which day of the week Shego had taken her. Now, she depended on the moon to mark her time, the exercises Shego gave her to give relevance to her days, and the teenage heroine was increasingly aware of the fact that Shego's companionship was something she sought after. The older woman's teasings, her sarcastic remarks and even her sharp rebukes were the highlight of Kim's day. Shego was deadly funny and her sharp intelligence whetted Kim's appetite for conversation. They still had their arguments, but Kim managed to keep them to a minimum, noting that certain topics made Shego more prickly than normal. Questions about her shi fu, for example. Questions about Fong, and questions in general that had nothing to do with her training or questions asked too often.

Kim felt an inkling of irritation wrap around her but quickly batted it away. Though Shego was at time irrational and angry for no reason at all, Kim found, to her surprise, that the woman was some times kind. Like when Shego had found out about Kim's studying. Not wanting Shego to find out, Kim had taken to secretly reading over the workbooks Fong had given her. Fong had been good enough to write down how each character in the book sounded in English. Pinyin, Fong had said. Kim studied diligently by candlelight every night after dinner, excusing herself early to do so. With no paper or pen, she wrote the characters down on the table, with a finger, over and over again. Words like me, they, she, he... sometimes, she was confused by the grammer, if she was getting it right. Or the feminine and masculine of a character. All those nights excusing herself early had, of course, aroused Shego's suspicion. One night, she burst into the room unannounced, and was treated to the sight of Kim's workbooks sprawled about in disarray as Kim froze in the middle of reciting a passage.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Shego was irritated. She had left, returning with sheafs of paper, a block of ink, and brushes. She had shown Kim how to use water to mix with the block of ink, shown her how to hold the brush, then given her the sheafs of paper to write on. Shego even sat with her sometimes, helping her write certain words, showing her the brushstrokes involved in a character, sounding out a word when Kim didn't get it right.

"I was surprised when I found you studying." Shego admitted one day. "When you didn't pursue Chinese, I chalked it up to you being ignorant."

"What?" Kim bristled.

Shego grinned. It always gave her a warm feeling inside when Kim responded so readily to her insults. "I thought you were being dumb. I mean, if I was going to spend three years somewhere, I would try to at least learn the language."

That set off a new round of arguments, but now it was... comfortable. Like squabbling with a friend, even though their arguments sometimes spilled over to trading a few blows. Nothing serious, it just resulted in bruises for a sullen Kim.

Kim's thoughts were interrupted suddenly, when out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something hurtling towards her. Falling backwards quickly, she used her legs to wrap around the pole and stop her descent towards the muck below.

A glob of marsh ooze travelled through the area where she had been resting in before. Upside down, she glared at a smirking Shego, who was bending down to pick up more muck.

"That was good Kimmie." Shego weighed the sloppy solid-liquid mess in her hands experimentally, then whipped it fast at Kim. Unable to avoid it if she was on the pole she was hanging from, she grabbed hold of a nearby pole, swung around it, ricocheted off a third pole to jump on a low-standing one. Lightning fast, Kim didn't rest on that pole long and flipped onto another one as another murky missile just barely missed her.

"That's nasty!" Kim shouted at Shego.

"Only if you get hit by it!" Shego retorted laughingly.

Both of them were having a lot of fun, even if they refused to admit it to themselves.

* * *

Shego was on edge, Kim could tell. The village, subtly decorated in red before, now looked like someone had up-ended a village-sized bucket of red paint on it. New faces were seen, as relatives from abroad came back to see the marriage. A villager Kim didn't recognize came to drive them just as the rising sun was lightening the sky to a hazy grey. Shego had fallen into a depressing silence the day before they had to head into the village. As soon as they arrived, Shego had escaped to her house and claimed that she wasn't feeling well. It was the last minute preparation period of the wedding, and everybody was running around frantically. Somehow, Kim had been hustled to the bride's house, where young women ran around the house, trying to get everything prepared for the groom's arrival. Kim was being forced into a red dress. 

Apparently, from what Kim could gather, almost everybody in the house was on the bride's side, either a bridesmaid or family. Kim was helplessly swept away in the preparations, the happy faces and the machine-gun pace of conversation just confused her. Finally, she was pulled, pushed, and gently lead to a room that only had two people inside.

One was the bride, the other was a girl who was doing the bride's make-up.

"Ni jau ba. Wo yao jiang ta." Fong's brusque order sent the make-up girl out of the room.

Now it was only the bride and Kim.

Decked out in a beautiful red dress, Kim's eyes swept over the beautiful and painstakingly stitched phoenix on Fong's bridal dress. Gold threads stood out in bright contrast to the cheery siken red backdrop of the dress, coupled with threads of other colours of the same brilliance. Despite the cheeriness of the dress, and the expert make-up job, it did nothing to brighten the look on Fong's face. She looked so emotionless, she might as well be a mannequin.

"Sorry to have you carted here without explanation," Fong's smile was forced and pained. "But I couldn't come and get you myself and Cheung's busy getting ready also."

Kim's automatic response was to try to reassure, to comfort. "Its alright."

Fong regarded Kim with serious brown eyes. "How's Shego?"

"She's alright." Kim lied.

The Chinese woman turned away from Kim to look at herself in the mirror. Hoarsely, she asked, "Really?"

"Michelle," Kim cleared her throat. "What do you want me to say?"

Fong looked at Kim sadly. "You sound just like Shego when you say that. 'What do you want me to say'..." Fong turned away to look at the mirror again. The make-up seemed garish, especially since Fong felt like it was more of a funeral than a wedding. Cheung was a good guy. If she loved anyone besides Shego, it would be him. It was hard. He was so patient with her, she felt so guilty when, in her heart, all she wanted was Shego to be the one coming to get her, the one to marry her. But not everybody could have what they wanted.

"Do you really want to go through with it?" Kim asked, hating herself for asking it. Cheung was in love with Fong. But if Fong was going to be miserable, why should she marry?

"I'm going through with this. I just wanted to know how Shego was." Fong said lamely. She smiled a bit when she heard the excited shrieks outside her door, and faraway, the sound of music, of cymbals crashing together, horns squawking out a joyous tune and the heavy bass of a drum. "There's my groom. You should go outside and get your share of the door money."

"Door money?"

Fong smiled, feeling a little less down. She had always liked weddings, and she tried to remind herself of how fun it was. This time, instead of being one of the bridesmaids, she would be the bride. It would be fun, regardless of her choice of mate. She was determined for it to be fun. She had prepared herself for the inevitable day she would be married. In this village, where her marriage meant the continuation of a generation, the continuation of the duty that each one was ascribed as soon as they were born; she adhered to it.

The procession was getting closer. Kim looked at Fong desperately. "Fong, why are you doing this? What do you want me to do? You obviously asked me to come here to do something for you. What do you want?"

Fong stared at Kim thoughtfully. What did she want? What was she doing...

Someone pushed the window open, drawing the women out of their thoughts. Astonished, they watched Shego climb in, almost casually.

"Were you..." Kim paused and took on a more accusing note. "Were you listening outside the window!"

"Yes." Shego's blunt reply shocked Kim and Fong into silence. Shego walked with determined steps to Fong, and knelt down in front of her. Rapidly, she spoke in Chinese to the dazed women. Fong's breath caught in her throat and she reached out to cup the side of Shego's face. In a move that spoke of so many moments of intimacy between them, Shego had placed a hand on top of Fong's and leaned into it affectionately. That was when Kim turned her head away. Their voices rose and fell, the clipped and musical syllables rolling off Fong's tongue, and the slower and softer tones of Shego's voice washed over Kim's ears. Finally, there was silence in the room. Outside the door, they could hear the shouts of the groomsmen begging the bridesmaids to let them in, and the taunting words of the bridesmaids.

"Go outside, have fun." Shego ordered Kim. "Tell the bridesmaids 'ah Fong shuo deng yi shou'."

Kim didn't argue. Whatever was between the two women, it was between them. Kim left the room, casting a glance behind to see Shego gently accept the headdress Fong held out to her.

* * *

"Were you..." Kim paused and took on a more accusing note. "Were you listening outside the window!"

"Yes." Shego's blunt reply shocked Kim and Fong into silence. Shego walked with determined steps to Fong, and knelt down in front of her.

"Fong, what if I asked you to marry me?" Shego's spoke in Chinese, her expression serious.

Fong's breath caught in her throat and she reached out to cup the side of Shego's face. In a move that spoke of so many moments of intimacy between them, Shego had placed a hand on top of Fong's and leaned into it affectionately. Kim turned her head away from the scene.

Fong took a deep breath, and breathed out the reply she knew she had to say. "I wouldn't."

Shego's eyes bore into hers. "And why not?"

"Because..." Fong's voice faltered and she looked desperately at Shego. Shego shook her head, eyes unblinking, watching for Fong's answer. Her breath ragged with emotions. Waiting for Fong. But the bride couldn't continue, and had stopped talking so the tears wouldn't come out.

"Because," Shego continued for her. "Because you taught me the world is more than you and me. The world is more than me. Rather than making myself happy, I've chosen to make the collective happy. Rather than choosing the most selfish option, I've chosen a selfless option."

Fong's eyes brightened and searched Shego's face. It screamed for her to trust her. But she spoke out her doubt. "When have you ever listened to me?"

"I've always listened." the corners of Shego's eyes crinkled in amusement. "I just never did what you asked until now."

Uncertainty warred traitorously with the absolute trust Fong had always put in Shego. The pale-skinned woman with the gleaming green eyes was giving Fong an explanation that lacked a lot of information, and asking Fong to accept it.

"Cheung needs a wife. Ting Ting needs a mother."

"Do you need me?" Fong asked tremulously.

"I need you," Shego took Fong's hand and held it in both of her own. "to let me go."

The brown-eyed girl's voice was a whisper. "How could you ask me that?"

Shego and Fong locked eyes in a silent battle. But they both knew who would win even before they started. Triumphant, Shego called out to Kim.

"Go outside, Have fun." Shego ordered Kim. "Tell the bridesmaids 'ah Fong shuo deng yi shou'."

Kim didn't argue. Whatever was between the two women, it was between them. Kim left the room, casting a glance behind to see Shego gently accept the headdress Fong held out to her.

"Help me put this on." Fong's voice echoed hollowly in the room. Shego's hands trembled as she held the traditional headdress of the bride. Faltered for just one second.

Run away.

Run away with her...

Shego shook away the treacherous thoughts. Gently, she placed it on Fong's head, letting herself admire the pearls that decorated the headdress. The work it took to construct this heavy monstrosity that was going to sit on Fong's head. Shego held the beaded veil open, so she could behold that face she tendered so dearly. Fong reached up and held Shego's hands. Squeezed them once and pushed her away.

The veil fell into place.

The sound of celebration outside swelled around them.

* * *

Kim was caught up in the overall good-feeling of the wedding guests. Unlike weddings she's been to back home, these ones were loud and had more of a party atmosphere than a formal gathering. Of course, everyone was dressed to impress, but pranks were encouraged, jokes exchanged, the bride and groom were constantly being harassed by friends to play 'games'. For example, one of the tamer games involved the groom being blindfolded and made to guess which hand belonged to his bride's as a line-up of guests tried to trick him. Another game which was slightly more risque was giving a raw egg to the bride and seeing if she could bring it up one side of the groom's trouser leg and down the other. One of Cheung's friends ran forward and tried to crush the egg when it was at the apex of Cheung's legs, which brought laughter from everyone when Cheung managed to sidestep his friend and trip him. Whenever there was a lull in the guests who were eating their fill, someone would start tapping on their bowl, or any kind of glass object nearby. This would get everybody else doing it until the courtyard was filled with a cacophony of sound that wouldn't still until the bride and groom kissed. The ground, which had been littered with red firecracker paper before, the firecracker paper now BLANKETTED the ground, creating a lush red carpet. Music was played through out the dinner, and when one musician became tired, a guest who knew how to play the instrument would take it up.

And of course, there was copious amounts of drinking.

'Shego doesn't usually drink much.' Someone passed Kim a note. She looked up, her eyes locking on Cheung, who looked at her pointedly, before raising a cup of beer to Shego's loud toast. She knew Fong's neat, tight script. The note's writing was wider, bigger. Must be Cheung's. It surprised Kim to find out that Shego didn't drink. For some reason, Kim always thought that Shego was a big drinker.

'Could you please watch her?' The note pleaded.

There was no holding Shego down. The woman kept on toasting the happy couple at every opportunity. Everyone else went along with it, some guessed at Shego's outrageously joyous mood, others just took it for what it was. Grandma Lo watched Shego's liquor intake a bit worriedly, and the rest of the elders exchanged glances but kept up the pretense. This was a happy event.

Fong, meanwhile, wouldn't look at Shego at all. She gave every guest grateful smiles, and thanked them for coming. When Shego made toasts, Fong would sip at her drink, but steadfastly refused to look at Shego. As the night spiralled to a close, Shego seemed desperate to drink as much as she possibly could.

'Great, just great.' Was Kim's thoughts, as she tried to discreetly steal away the drinks Shego had hoarded for herself, grateful that other people were helping her with that.

'God, I hope she doesn't get alcohol poisoning!' Kim cringed inwardly. But perhaps she was underestimating Shego's tolerance. When the bride and groom stood up to go to the groom's place, Shego glared at the couple, looking very sober. And as guests filed after the couple to continue torturing them with their 'games'--that Kim gathered from the wicked grins on some of the wedding guests' faces, would only grow more perverted in the bedroom--Shego slipped quietly away.

Kim didn't think, she followed Shego. Away from the brightly lit courtyard, she slowed so her eyes would adjust to the darkness, before going after the sound of Shego's footsteps. Turning a corner, a hand caught her, spun her around and an arm pinned her against the wall. Shego's eyes, reflecting the moonlight, seemed to glow. Kim was close enough to Shego to smell the alcohol that came off of the angry woman in waves.

"Kim." Shego spat out the redhead's name, and let her go. She turned her back to the woman. "Why are you following me? Why aren't you celebrating with everyone else?"

"I was worried about you."

"Worried?" Shego gave an ugly laugh. "Why? I got exactly what I wanted. I'm fucking so happy this is over." Obviously, Kim could tell Shego was not. Especially not after how she had seen Shego look at Fong.

Shego was walking away, navigating the network of passageways brilliantly well for the amount of alcohol she had drunk. Kim wondered if she had imagine Shego's binge.

"I can take my alcohol just fine." Shego said aloud, as if reading Kim's thoughts. "I have an incredibly high tolerance. Unfortunately, I'm just slightly buzzed right now."

Shego's steps lead them to the public washrooms. Kim, having to go herself, went in too. Shego finished first, and waited for the teenager outside. A couple of Fong's bridesmaids were in the washroom too, powdering their noses and chattering among themselves.

"Where are you going?" asked Kim. Racuous laughter from somewhere far away made Shego scowl.

"I'm going to sleep. If you want to come with me, you can follow. If not, you can follow them," Shego nodded her head in the direction of the bridesmaids who were giggling giddily as they left the washrooms and headed to Cheung's place. Shego started off back to her place, and Kim didn't hesitate to follow the older woman.

The house was empty and dark, but Shego flicked on a lightswitch. The single lightbulb in the ceiling blinked on.

"I'm going to sleep." Shego announced, entered her room, and slammed the door. Kim stood in the common room, listening to Shego getting ready for bed, before heading to her own room. Making use of the pitcher of water, she brushed her teeth and used a washcloth with a little more of the water from the pitcher to wipe her neck and face. She slipped out of the dress she had been squeezed into, wondering who's it was and where her original clothes were, decided to look for the owner of the dress and her own clothes tomorrow. A set of light blue silk pj's had been placed on top of her pillow, and Kim stripped out of her clothes and into the nightclothes.

'I could stay in my room.' Kim looked at the wall seperating her from Shego, straining to hear any sound the woman might make while buttoning up the front of her blue pyjamas. She couldn't hear a sound, but she was sure Shego was still awake. She couldn't help the sympathy she felt for Shego, something Kim knew the other woman would probably hate her for.

'Shego.'

Before Kim knew it, she was in front of Shego's room. Finding herself there, she couldn't stop herself from knocking briskly on the door and letting herself in. Shego had been sitting in the centre of her bed, legs drawn up to her chest. She had been resting her head on her knees when Kim entered, and now raised it to look at the redhead wearily. Kim closed the door behind her. Shego's eyes stayed on her as the teenage heroine got on the bed, and knelt beside and a little behind Shego.

Shego's expression remained stony, waiting for Kim to make a move. Having been taught the healing properties of a simple hug, Kim leaned forward and embraced her enemy. Shego immediately went rigid in Kim's arms, but the redhead refused to be discouraged, waiting as Shego unwillingly relaxed. Kim supported Shego when she leaned against the younger woman and let out a shuddering sigh. The redhead was situated in just the right place, if she leaned down slightly, to rest her chin on Shego's shoulder and press the side of her face at the spot just below Shego's ear. They stayed like this for a few moments before Shego turned her face, so her nose brushed against Kim's.

Anticipation welled up in Kim, as she responded to the silent question. Felt her stomach flutter at Shego's intense stare.

Shego nudged her with her head, made Kim bend her head back, bare her neck to the green-eyed woman.

Kim felt so far away when Shego's lips brushed against her neck. Rough and soft at the same time. Felt the wet sensation of a tongue tasting her neck, and shivered when she could feel the tiniest pressure of teeth nipping at the flesh of her neck, then letting go.

Kim felt so far away when Shego pushed her back, none too gently and straddled her with a feral growl, pinning her to the bed.

Kim Possible felt so far away, but when Shego's hungry and demanding lips burned her own with a kiss, she felt herself plunging back to earth. Responding to Shego by breaking free of that iron grip, encircling Shego's waist with her legs and mashing Shego's body against hers, hands cradling that pale face with those lips that coaxed noises from Kim that she had never heard herself make. Shego was a living fire that could burn her alive, and Kim could feel it; groaning into Shego's mouth, she could feel it. In the centre of her, the part that pressed so wantonly against the other woman longed to be devoured by the fire that raged uncontrollably beneath Shego's surface.

* * *

endnote: Do you like :D Yeah, it could be hotter, but you know, has an M rating. I don't wanna get banned again. Not only do I suck writing training scenes, but also sex scenes. Getting chapters to you fast means that I forgo things like grammar and spelling and stuff. And some times, I leave my readers playing 'spot the plot holes!' bad bad bad. The wedding scene seems a bit rushed because it was. Chinese weddings are frickin' crazy, so I'm not gonna spend forever writing about them. 


	14. The Lost Chapter

The Lost Chapter

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo

Cuz y'all were asking, here you go. I've decided to poof the Lost Chapter into existence. Wow. I'm surprised there are still new readers, hahaha.

* * *

"You were saying?" Shego chuckled throatily, and nibbled on Kim's ear. Shego sat against the headboard of the bed, Kim's back pressing into the front of Shego. The dark-haired woman held Kim in place with a strong arm as the young woman writhed in ecstasy, reaching back to desperately try to pull Shego closer. Talented fingers delved into her, touching places with a ruthless violence. Quick thrusts that made Kim arch up for more, want more. Cry out in short breathless shouts as the welcome intruders plunged into her. The sun was making its presence known as it peeked through the window and made a spot on the bare floor.

All night. ALL night. Maybe a few minute's break whenever Shego stopped to close her eyes and silently ride out that feeling of bliss or held Kim close as the redhead shuddered and screamed out her release; but there was no stopping. Shego trailed kisses over the other woman's body, murmuring into her ear, urging her up steadily towards that high pleasurable peak again right after they had fallen down. Kim followed willingly as Shego lead the way. Whenever Shego insisted and directed her to do something, Kim complied eagerly.

The piercing pain of entry when Shego had inserted an experimental digit inside of her, Kim rode out. The pleasure was everything, and that contrasting discomfort only pushed her higher and made her feel the most exquisite of agonies. Kim had held onto the bed, one leg draped over Shego's shoulder to give the woman better access, senseless in her desire as she pushed against that hand, aware that green eyes watched her. Aware that they watched, but fully beyond caring. Shego's feet slipped on the bedding, trying to find a toehold as she pounded mercilessly into Kim.

Her cries. Their breathing. The touches on her body, whether feather-light or teeth-grindingly intense, was all Kim was aware of.

When the sky's darkness was diffused by the first few rays of the sun, Kim had pressed her mouth against that sweet center of Shego's that finally managed to elicit low, guttural sounds from the quiet woman. Those pale hips bucked against Kim's ministrations, pale hands pushing Kim into that heady wetness. Kim grinned, feeling victorious when Shego doubled over Kim and let out a strangled cry when the redhead hit a particularly sensitive spot.

Now, though, Kim was paying for it.

"No! Shego, stop, I'm so sore-" But Shego hadn't listened. Dragged Kim into her arms and rained wet kisses her shoulders and back, holding Kim in place as her thumb massaged that swollen nub of flesh, making Kim draw in a quick ragged breath. Couldn't refuse Shego the entry and encouraged Shego with incoherent words.

"Shego!" The sound of the front door banging open cut off Kim's cries. Someone called out from the common room of the house. "Ni jie na li?"

Kim jumped nervously, and tried to pull away, but Shego kept one arm firmly around Kim, and the other hand worked Kim's sex vigorously, sending wave after wave of pleasure pounding on Kim's senses.

"Deng yi shou!" Shego called out, kissing every inch of skin on Kim that she could reach in her position. Kim let out a whimper, trying to hold back her cries of delight, holding them back; but also holding herself from falling over that wonderful drop. "Wo zhuo yi fu!"

"Wo deng ni, shi bu shi wo deng yong yuan." The voice answered. Kim wished whoever it was would leave. "Jin kuai, Shego!"

"Deng yi shou! Come on, Kimmie." Shego's breath heating up her ear was maddeningly arousing. "You want this, don't you? Can you do it without him hearing? That's the bad thing about being a screamer, you can't get off without making a sound."

"Mmm.." Kim groaned in frustration. She walked that thin line that bordered on suffering. Shego's hand now took on a slow and deep rythym that coaxed her towards her reward; holding it out for her to take, teasing her with it, but Kim couldn't reach it. Desperate for the release she sought, Kim gave Shego the puppy-dog face. Pouted out her lower lip and gave Shego an award-winning, sympathy-enducing puppy-dog eyes. Shego, caught off guard, crumbled.

"Come on, no tears, Kimmie." Shego's hand left Kim's spot, making Kim open her mouth and croak out a soft protest. Shego made Kim turn around to face her, finally relenting in her torture. With Kim's legs wrapped around Shego's waist, the villainess pressed Kim's face into her shoulder, muffling any sounds Kim might make. Shego moved her hips suggestively, brushing against Kim's throbbing center and smiled when the redhead gasped in understanding. Slowly, Kim bounced in Shego's lap, rubbing that aching spot against Shego's, steadily going faster and faster.

"Mmmph!" Kim screamed into Shego's shoulder and bit down as she ground her pelvis against Shego, felt the dam break. Her muted screams tingled through Shego's body, the bite sending the dark-haired woman's senses into overload as she stiffened in her own rapture.

"God," Kim whispered, slumping bonelessly in Shego's arms. She saw stars. Afterwaves of pleasure followed the initial supernova burst of bliss and washed over her. Kim shivered, incredibly sated. Just so incredibly sated, feeling Shego's satisfaction mixing with her own. "God..."

"Yes?" Shego joked.

Kim had enough energy to throw Shego a dirty look. Shego smirked, extricating herself from Kim and headed to her wardrobe to pick out a pair of pants, slipping them on hurriedly as the man hollered again.

"Wo lai!" Shego shouted back. She looked around the room, sucking off Kim's juice from her fingers absentmindedly, as if she just had an extremely tasty lychee. Kim watched Shego, embarassed, but couldn't help staring. It was so incredibly sexy. Shego, in her bid to find her shoes, caught Kim's look and gave the girl a cheeky wink.

'Shut up!' Kim mouthed and covered her face in embarassment. She fell back on the bed wanting to groan aloud, but couldn't in case the person outside could hear her. When she felt the bed move, Kim opened her eyes. Shego was mere centimetres away from her, and she smiled before leaning down and kissing Kim, her arms resting around the other woman's head. The kissee instinctively reached up and wrapped her arms around the kisser's neck and closed her eyes, savouring those full lips on her own.

"Okay," Shego parted abruptly, sitting at the edge of the bed and pulling on her shoes. "I'll be back later. Sleep in, okay? I'll send someone to check on you later, right now I got business to attend to."

Kim watched Shego walk out of the door and caught fragmented pieces of conversation before the door closed behind her. Something about... something that sounded like fat height or something... Kim rolled over, more confusing thoughts taking place of the nonsensical words she had heard. She had just spent the whole night having sex with her arch-nemesis. It was amazing sex. The most amazing sex she's ever had!

...

The only sex she's ever had.

"Oh. My. GOD!" Kim squealed. Since there was no-one around now, she could scream as loud as she could. It was so surreal. What did she do?

'I JUST HAD SEX WITH MY NEMESIS! ... WHY DON'T I SEEM TO CARE AS MUCH AS I THINK I SHOULD?' Kim rolled around in bed, trying to burn off the nervous energy that now replaced the lust she had been feeling before. What had happened between them? Last night, Kim had just wanted to comfort Shego... well, she did end up comforting Shego. But not in the way that she had first imagined. What she had imagined was a heart-to-heart talk where Shego broke down and tearfully confessed to Kim how much she loved Fong. And then Kim would give her a comforting hug and slowly slip her hands underneath the woman's shirt-

"OH MY GOD!" Kim repeated and held a pillow over her face to try to suffocate that energy roiling inside of her. But a few seconds later, she had the pillow squeezed tight against her chest and was rolling up and down the length of the bed again, squealing. The implications of everything... was she with Shego, now? Like, with *with*?

'This is SO the drama!'

There was a knock at the door, and Kim sat up quickly wrapping a sheet around herself.

"Come in!" Kim's voice sounded unnaturally high-pitched to her. Was Shego back? Kim was young, she was a teenager, and her libido was quick to rise at the thought of something that was so desirable to her right now. An old man opened the door and both woman and man gave a start at seeing each other. Panicked, the man muttered what Kim assumed was an apology while Kim burrowed into the sheets, mortified.

Libido quickly dwindling...

"Ah... you wear no clothes when you sleep?" The old man's embarassed voice echoed through the door as Kim cast about for her clothes, quickly tugging on her underpants and her pyjamas. "Very warm nights?"

"You... know English?" Kim asked, her amazement beating down her embarassment. She strode to the door and opened it, nodding politely to the old man.

"Not so good," The white-haired man confessed with a warm smile. "I am Grandpa Cho? Today I will see to you. Would you like to eat? We eat."

Kim followed the old man, as he shuffled out, leading the way, casting glances behind him to make sure Kim was following. She hurriedly slipped on a pair of slippers lying around and followed Grandpa Cho to his house, trying to walk normally, but she could feel that dull throb between her legs, the consequences of the night's actions. Tried not to grimace in the sweet ache. A family was already eating there and greeted her cheerfully, all of whom Kim recognized vaguely but didn't really know... except for one.

"Kim!" Ting Ting waved cheerfully from the table, as a woman spooned food into the squirming girl's mouth. "Zao shang!"

"Hao, hao," The woman feeding Ting Ting clucked, and held out some food to Ting Ting patiently.

"Ting Ting is eating with us today, her father working and her new mother also."

"Oh?" Kim felt a pang of guilt as she remembered a fact she had conveniently forgotten last night. Fong REALLY liked Shego. Fong was her friend. Fong might just be angry that on the night of her wedding, Shego and Kim had... god. "What are they doing?"

Grandpa Cho's face darkened. "Monks coming to... say hello. Shego go with them. Grandma Lo also."

Kim felt a stab of jealousy and quickly quashed it. The fact that Shego had slept with her, and was now out with her ex made Kim a bit uncomfortable. Instead of dwelling on the unpleasant thought, Kim sat down at a spot at the table that was designated for her. "Monks?" Kim vaguely remembered having a talk with Fong and monks had been mentioned. "Is that... bad?"

"No talk about monks," Grandpa Cho's voice was full of venom at the mention of monks. A couple of young men stood up and spoke soothingly, rubbing Grandpa Cho's back, trying to stop him from being so agitated. The old man took a deep breath and made a physical attempt to calm himself down. He sat down next to Kim and gave her a tentative smile, patting her leg in an absentminded gesture. "We eat, okay?"

After breakfast, Kim had excused herself back to Shego's place. Unconsciously, she had hoped Shego would be there waiting for her. When the woman was nowhere to be seen Kim had felt disappointed, but busied herself by collecting some clothes and headed to the public bathroom at the outskirts of the village. Since most everybody was already out working, there was nobody in the showers, and Kim had it all to herself. She relished the solitude and the calming affect of pounding water on her head. It helped her sort through her muddled thoughts and come to some conclusions about last night and a hell of a lot of questions.

The first thing she had to come to terms with was that she did sleep with Shego. She had sex with Shego. She had MIND-BLOWING sex with Shego.

Shego was her mortal enemy. Well, in the past months, that might have changed. Especially after what happened last night.

The realization that Kim didn't feel as weird as she should about the shocking change of events... worried Kim a bit. She had no regrets about what happened and only wished that Shego had stayed instead of leaving so early. The thought of sex during the day was incredibly hot..

Kim shook herself, firmly taking herself off that dangerous line of thought.

What would happen to their rivalry? Would Shego stop working for Dr. Drakken? What would Ron and Monique think about this development? What would her family think?

The thing that floored Kim the most was the realization that she might... like Shego. One night shouldn't make a difference at all. One night... it was a mistake, wasn't it?

If it was, it was a mistake Kim didn't regret.

After her shower, Grandpa Cho came to find her again and the first item of the day was that she was going to learn Chinese. Kim asked again if Shego was going to come back soon, and Grandpa Cho shook his head and explained to her that she might be gone for the entire day.

"Shego give me this," Grandpa Cho gave her a tiny card as a way of curbing Kim's disappointment.

'Good morning,' The card read. Shego's scrawl was surprisingly neat and elegant. 'today, Cho gon-gon has volunteered to help you with your Chinese lessons. Be good. I'll see you later.'

Kim eagerly turned the card around, hoping that there would be more. But it was just that one short message. It didn't fully satisfy her, but a warm glow settled in the pit of her stomach.

'I'll see you later.'

* * *

Cheung and Kim walked in silence, through the forest to Er-Mei. Cheung was in no mood to talk, and Kim respected that and followed him in silence. It was slow goings. Cheung would ask for little breaks to rest. The meeting with the monks had gone badly, Kim presumed. Cheung sported a nasty cut at the side of his head, a split lip and would periodically rub his chest; his face scrunched up in a pained grimace. Fong fared a bit better and was limping a little, favouring her right foot. Shego was nowhere to be seen. Grandma Lo came back frazzled but unhurt, told Kim through Grandpa Cho that Shego had gone ahead to Er-Mei.

"Is she alright?" Kim asked, trying to seem nonchalent.

Fong leaned back in her chair wearily. "She's alright. She's much better than all of us, actually." Fong reached over and placed a hand on Cheung's arm, shaking him gently. Cheung glared at her at first, but tried to give her a smile.

"I'm alright," Cheung sighed, rubbing his short hair. He looked at Kim, his smile strained. "If you ever run into a monk, and they're these bald guys in sorta yellow or orange robes-be careful."

When they were about to leave, Fong pulled Kim aside.

"Take care of her," Fong passed Kim a packet, making sure nobody else saw her stuffing it into Kim's backpack full of supplies.

"Yeah," Kim nodded her head feeling incredibly guilty at the moment. "What is it?"

"Dried shredded pork," Fong smiled. "Shego loves this stuff. Tell her to keep it in a cool dry place."

Irrational jealousy surged through Kim. She didn't know why. Well, she did know why. It was the very thought of someone else besides herself knowing more about Shego than she did.

'I mean, I've known Shego since high school. And Michelle's only known her, what, three years?' Kim couldn't help thinking nastily. The rational part of her mind was rebuking her for the uncharitable thoughts and acknowledging that Fong, who had had an intimate relationship with Shego might know a bit more about Shego's personal life than Kim Possible would. But the thing about irrational jealousy was that it was seldom rational.

"Yeah, sure." Kim's voice was surly and she immediately regretted her rudeness. "Sorry," The redhead apologized. "I'm just sorta... on edge."

"Don't worry," Fong grinned. "Having to spend time with Shego when she's in one of her moods isn't anybody's idea of a good time."

"Here we are." Cheung's voice brought her back to the present, the stairs leading up to the house loomed ahead of her. "Tell Shego I'll be back in..." Cheung calculated on his fingers, looking up at the sun and frowning to himself. "Tell her... maybe a few days. Ration the food some, the days are getting longer. Remember to tell her the days are getting longer. That's important."

"Okay," Kim was puzzled. When she had first arrived, she was pretty sure it was summer. The days were getting hazy, but she remembered it was some time in the summer. Which meant fall was coming. Which meant the days should be getting shorter, not longer.

"On your way now," Cheung patted her on her back. Dark circles under his eyes contrasted against the sickly paleness of his face, betraying how much the encounter with the monks had taken out of him.

"Hope that," Kim tapped the side of her head to indicate the wound on Cheung's head, "heals quick."

"This is nothing compared to what they usually do to us," Cheung waved away her worries. As Kim headed up the stairs, Cheung's voice floated after her. "You take care, okay? Be careful!"

For some odd reason, the hollowness in Cheung's voice; the way his voice quavered made Kim shiver. The young man's voice sounded shrill in the wind that was just picking up.

A storm was on its way.

"Be careful!"

* * *

The rain had been threatening Kim for a good long while amd the redhead just made the top, light rain started spitting down, the fat drops pelting Kim heralding the torrent that was to come. The outer doors had been flung open, Shego stood there, framed in the doorway, waiting for Kim.

"Hurry!" Shego called out. Kim broke out into a run and made it just before it got really bad.

"Hey," Kim's smile was brilliant, and Shego couldn't help but smirk.

"Hey yourself." Shego trailed a hand down Kim's arm lightly. "Come on, I got you a bit of dinner."

Kim quickly ran her eyes over the dark-haired woman. No injuries. Kim let out the sigh of relief she didn't realize she had been holding in since Cheung and Fong came back to the village.

Shego lead the way through the familiar house. Through the dark audience chamber, its windows closed against the storm; through the roofed pathways, their steps echoing against the wooden floors. Into the dining room.

Kim let her backpack drop on the floor and turned to close the doors against the chill the rain brought. The next thing she knew, Shego had her trapped against the closed doors and Kim was eagerly returning the older woman's rough kisses.

"Shego," Kim wrapped her legs around Shego's waist and the villainess supported her, hands cupping and kneading the young woman's buttocks as she ravaged Kim's mouth.

"Shego." The floor met her back, Shego's fingers fumbled at the drawstrings of her pants.

Head tossed back in mindless need, Kim opened her eyes and was stunned by the silk screen sitting on the dias. The green snake motif watched her with sparkling emerald eyes that seemed to flicker with an inner fire. Beside it, Kim couldn't manage to figure out what it was... maybe... a beginning of a black tail? The pattern was particularly scale-like... and there were other things drawn in shining threads... but her concentration broke when Shego growled; her arms encircling Kim and crushing their bodies together. Kim whimpered, her lower lip caught in between Shego's teeth. The older woman chuckled wickedly at the sounds she tore from Kim's throat.

All thoughts of snakes, screens and tapestries evaporated as Shego moved earnestly against her.

* * *

endnote: sorry, I'm bad at training AND sex scenes -_-;


	15. Isolation

Isolation

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M.

Sorry bout the last chapter and the re-directing, but FFnet is a bitch. :D Reviews are welcome and appreciated! And yes, I will be still posting on FFnet. Only if and when my chapters might slip into the explicit side will I post elsewhere. Enjoy, babes ;)

* * *

"Zai yi ci." Shego commanded.

Again.

Kim launched into a dizzying series of kicks and punches, all blocked easily by Shego. Kim jumped and did a pirouette on her feet, kicking out at Shego. Shego caught her leg and pushed away. Kim kept her balance on the partially submerged log she was standing on, months of training paying off. I was almost nine months since Kim was first brought here. The repetitive training had honed her body incredibly well, though she couldn't tell, Shego surely did. Kim was faster, stronger, more agile.

Kim's fist shot out, and Shego tried to side-step it, braced herself when she saw that it was inevitable. Felt pain blossom throughout her right arm as Kim connected and saw the redhead's fiercely triumphant look.

"Pay attention," Shego spat out in Chinese. She captured Kim's hand and her foot shot out and knocked Kim across the head and down into the icy marsh. Kim cracked through the ice, came up sputtering and glared up hatefully at Shego. It was winter now, up in the mountains.

"Zai yi ci." Shego said coldly. Kim's lips lifted into a sneer and she turned around, wading towards shore. "Kim!" There was a threatening note in Shego's voice and she hollered at Kim in Chinese. "Come back here!"

Kim continued to ignore the brunette as she hit dry ground and headed back towards the house. Furious, Shego travelled on top of the poles and leapt to the ground in front of Kim.

"Ni teng bu dong?" Shego's voice was soft. Kim had spent months with Shego. She knew when Shego's voice grew sweet and dropped in volume, that she was angry.

"I hear good," Kim's Chinese was elementary, but understandable. Grammer sometimes escaped her, but she was a quick learner. "I don't want to."

"What do you mean you don't want to?" Shego's voice was low and seductive, low and dangerous. Almost a growl.

"Its cold." Kim's breath came out in puffs of condensation. "I am cold."

"Zai yi ci."

Shego was expecting Kim's wild swing and dropped down to kick upwards, feeling satisfaction as her student blocked the kick and flipped away. Shego followed closely, noting the hits that she made didn't slow Kim down as much as before and some of Kim's retaliations might have actually grazed Shego if she was tenth of a second too slow. That dip in the water had slowed Kim down, though. It was cold, and her muscles didn't respond as quickly as Kim would have them and she took a lot of hits before a well-placed punch sent her sprawling into the snow.

"Okay, we're done." Shego kept her voice impassive as Kim picked herself up, blood dripping from her nose. She wiped at it with the back of her hand and shook off the excess. "Press snow against the back of your neck, it'll stop your nose bleed."

"Say it again. Slow." Kim snarled impatiently.

"Snow. Press it against the back of your neck." Shego said slowly. "It'll stop the bleeding. Is your nose broken?"

Kim shook her head, splattering icy water around her. She knelt down and scooped up snow with numb fingers, did as she was told.

"We'll break for today. Go study for a while, I'll call you when I have dinner ready."

The redhead stormed off and Shego let out a tired sigh. Goddamn that woman. Goddamn her.

Kim, who was jogging back to the house, was thinking along the same lines. She felt frustrated and awkward in Shego's presence, her mind wandering back to events she would rather forget as she angrily tore towards the house.

"Kim."

Kim looked at Shego over the rim of her bowl. It had been maybe weeks since Kim had woke up in bed next to Shego. This was the first time that Shego had instigated a talk with her. After that hazy day, Shego had cut herself off from Kim, no small task since they were the only two people in the house. But Shego managed it. Whenever Kim tried to start a conversation, Shego would cut her short or ignore her. Questions were answered with monosyllabic words or grunts. Touching was forbidden. For a while at the beginning, Shego didn't join Kim for dinner. Kim was confused at first, then hurt and had finally reached that place where she just felt angry. Her mind gave her the obvious conclusion to Shego's distant behaviour, but she refused to take it.

Shego wouldn't hurt her like that.

The teenage heroine placed her chopsticks on the table and crossed her arms, waiting for whatever Shego might have to say to her.

"What happened between us can't happen again." The candles flickered. Shego's eyes reflected that flickering light. Reminded Kim of the emerald-eyed snake on the screen, which was hidden again by a strategically placed sheet. "I made a mistake."

Those simple words were like a punch in the guts. Kim had nodded, not knowing what else to do. What else could she say? What could she say? But she tried anyways and cleared her throat. "You made a mistake? What do you mean by that?"

"It means," Shego chose her words carefully. "that I should not have taken advantage of you."

"What if I had wanted to be taken advantage of?" Kim glared at Shego defiantly, couldn't help those words from pouring out of her mouth. Shego shook her head, but Kim blundered on. "What if what we did meant something to me? What if I like you?"

Shego, who had been trying to look everywhere but at her, now leveled Kim with her gaze. "No. Because of our situation, this--" Shego gestured between the two of them. "--this cannot happen. This isn't a relationship, Kimmie." --That derisive tone when Shego said her name stung Kim-- "You don't like me. You can't like me. You hardly know me."

Then the green-and-black garbed woman got up and left. Kim sat in the dining room, listening to Shego's sounds in the house. They were the only two people there.

A mistake? Kim hadn't wanted to hear that. A mistake would mean that it was something Shego regretted. An apology would mean that Shego had done something wrong to her. How could it be so wrong when Kim felt so right about it? But Shego's words had hurt.

"You don't like me. You can't like me. You hardly know me."

Their burgeoning friendship withered on the branch. Kim tried hard to prove to Shego that what she said wasn't true. Kim did like Shego. And the knowing Shego part, well, they would get to know each other over time. She tried, but Shego wasn't giving an inch. On the excuse of helping Kim learn Chinese faster, Shego refused to talk to her unless she communicated in Chinese. That was frustrating. The only times Shego would speak English was during designated Chinese lessons time. Shego taught the lessons and refused to be sidetracked or tricked into a conversation that had nothing to do with what Kim was trying to learn. If Kim did try anything, Shego would refuse to teach for the rest of the day and leave.

How could someone get up and try again when the very person you're trying to win over keeps knocking you down?

'Literally and figuratively,' Kim's teeth were chattering as she stripped out of her ruined clothes. In the baths, she picked up the copper pan at the edge of the water and scooped water out of the pool, trying to rinse off the slime that clung to her and warm herself with the hot water.

Shego's Chinese-language-only decree, for a long time rendered Kim almost mute except for the few phrases she knew. But as she gained in words, Shego relunctantly started talking to her again as long as Kim didn't mention what they had done. The conversation was stilted, not only because of the language, but because Shego held herself apart from Kim, refused to let them connect. There was no longer the playful Shego from before.The words that Kim did get out were few because she didn't know what to talk to her about. At these times, Kim wondered if Shego was right, that she couldn't possibly like the villainess, that a night or two of fun had completely blinded her to Shego's character.

* * *

"Are you still cold?" Shego asked, an eyebrow raised.

"L-little b-bit." Kim stuttered through chattering teeth. Kim had opted to wear her pyjamas and a down-filled jacket. Her hair was still a bit wet, so she kept it wrapped up in a towel.

"Eat a bit more," Shego got up from her table. She had already finished so she picked up her tray. "I'm coming back with some tea."

"X-xie xie," Kim muttered. When Shego came back, she noted that Kim's lips looked a bit blue and she was still shivering, even though the room, though a bit cool, was still warm.

"Okay, we'll have tea in your room. Come on." Kim made to pick up her dinner tray, and Shego made a noise of impatience. "Leave that there. I'll deal with it. I don't want you to break everything."

"I can," Kim said clumsily, trying to find the words. "I can--"

"You can, you can." Shego mocked. "You can't even talk. Come on."

"Say it slowly." Kim slurred and followed Shego, abandoning the tray and pulling the coat closer to her body.

"In." Shego closed the doors to ward off the chill and pointed to the bed. Kim shed her coat and the towel that covered her head. Crawling into bed, she shivered more violently at the sudden loss of her warm jacket and the transfer into her cold bed. Shego lit a lamp in the room and placed the tray of tea on Kim's nightstand, quickly pouring Kim a cup.

"Drink."

Kim complied, draining the cup of tea quicky, succeeding in burning her lips in the process while Shego ran out to grab a couple of burning coals from the kitchen, return to put them in the hanging braziers around the room. The room was already becoming toasty warm.

"Ow."

"Slow." Shego's voice was soothing. She dropped the tongs she had been using to transport the coals against the foot of the bed. "How do you feel?"

Kim had stopped shivering, but she still felt so cold. "Cold."

"Shit." Shego swore in English then switched back to Chinese. "Don't you get hypothermia on me."

"W-what?" Kim frowned at the words.

"Hypothermia." Shego said in English.

"Speak... Chinese..." Kim's eyes fluttered close.

"Hey." Shego woke her up. "Don't sleep." Shego touched Kim's forehead. Dry and cool. So not good. "Okay, okay Kimmie, wake up."

"No." Kim slurred. Shego shrugged off her shirt and slipped into the sheets, in only pants and a bra. The green-eyed woman shivered when the redhead instinctively snuggled closer and wrapped her arms around Shego.

"You're so cold."

"Who's fault... is that?" Kim replied in Chinese. Hesitantly, Shego wrapped her arms around Kim, remembering her survival training. Don't massage the casualty, don't give her alcohol--she had given Kim tea, was that alright? And don't use hot water bottles or put casualty in hot wat--

Shego leaned forward and took a sniff of Kim's long red hair. "You took a bath?" Shego leaned forward and sniffed again. "Did you use my shampoo?"

"Shut up..." Kim started shivering again. Shego held her closer, couldn't help feeling that familiar twinge when Kim mooshed her face into Shego's neck. Kim's breath tickling her gently was... distracting to say the least. They stayed like this for a really long time. A little bit of torture for Shego. Holding something this sweet in her arms was so tempting... just a little taste, would Kim even realize in her disorientated state?

'No,' Shego rebuked herself. She didn't spend the last few months distancing herself from Kim to ruin it all because she couldn't control her hormones. Besides, when someone had hypothermia, it wouldn't be good to agitate their hearts. Periodically through the night, Shego would shake Kim and keep her from sleeping, afraid that if Kim closed her eyes, she wouldn't wake up. The candles dripped in their platters, their light flickering in the room, almost burnt out, but Shego didn't fall asleep in her vigil.

"It's cold, Shego... its cold..." Kim whispered.

"Stay awake."

"No." Kim shook her head. "No."

"Stay awake." Shego said more firmly. Kim made a visible effort to open her eyes. But she felt so tired and cold.

"Keep talking... your voice.. hao teng..." The redhead mixed in English with her Chinese.

"Want me to tell you a story?"

"Yeah."

Shego cleared her throat. "You have to repeat after me, okay?" Kim nodded, eyes closed. Shego was so warm. And the woman's voice was so pleasant. Pressed up against Shego like this, it was like being right up against a purring cat.

"Once upon a time," Shego immediately fell on the Chinese tale that was most familiar to her. "There was a woman named Bai Su Zhen."

"Bai Su Zhen," Kim repeated. She was feeling a little bit better now.

"Bai Su Zhen shi yi ger hen piao liang yo hen dun, di nu ren." Shego waited as Kim repeated the passage. "Ta yao yi ger bu lang bu you ger lao gong. Ta di ming ji shi Xu Xian."

"Hen paio liang," Kim cooed. Shego felt Kim's forehead. It was warm. Well, at least it wasn't cold. Shego tried to extract herself from Kim's arms, but the other woman held on tightly. Kim was fast asleep and this time Shego let her be.

"Idiot," Shego stopped struggling and sighed. She didn't relish going back to her room, dreading the cold weather outside.

'Just for tonight.' Shego closed her eyes, nose filled with the fresh scent of Kim's shampoo.

* * *

"Mommy!" Kim, little five-year old Kim looked up at her mother to her left. Snuggled in between her brothers, they were all sleeping in the huge king-sized bed of Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Possible. It was Christmas morning. She turned to the right and grinned at her father. "Daddy."

The two parents looked down at her adoringly. The tweebs, relatively peaceful for once, mumbled, fidgeted, and went back to sleep, sucking their thumbs. For some odd reason, little Ron was sitting at the foot of the bed.

"Won!"

"Kim, look what I got!" Ron held out a very ugly baby molerat, but Kim didn't scream in disgust. She recognized the little hairless thing.

"Wufus!"

A teenage Monique climbed up beside Ron and waved to Kim. "Hey girlfriend."

"Monique!" Kim had grown up now to that age where she had first met Monique. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Hey, I have more right to be here than she does," Monique pointed to a spot right beside Kim. The redhead turned around, freezing at the sight of a sleeping Shego. Bare white shoulders peeked out from underneath white sheets and Kim knew that underneath that sheet, Shego was gloriously naked.

Kim reached out to touch Shego, shake her awake gently, but froze when green eyes opened suddenly to stare at her. Before she knew what was happening, Kim was on her back and Shego was straddling her.

"Kimmie." The way Shego drew out her name, the way she touched her made Kim's breath hitch, rising up to press herself against Shego wantonly. Shego leaned down and licked a path from Kim's chin, into her mouth. Kim groaned, as Shego kissed her hungrily.

"You want to?" Shego's eyes gleamed.

Kim whimpered and thurst her hips upwards.

"Uh-uh," Shego shook her head. "You want it?"

"Yes," Kim breathed out. Aware that everybody that had been there before were still here, unable to see her just like she couldn't see them. But Kim could hear them calling for her. If she called for them, she'd be taken away from here. She'd be back with her family.

"Do you want me?"

Kim noticed idly that Shego had turned into this great big snake with its jaws open wide and venom dripping from its fangs. Its body looped around Kim's, held her captive in its deadly coils. Yet that dry heat of scales rubbing against her skin, smooth and rough at the same time, was unbearable.

"Yes." Kim whispered.

The snake smiled. Thin lips.

"Excellent." Lightning-quick, the snake sunk its fangs into Kim's neck and the redhead arched back, moaning in absolute ecstasy.

* * *

"Feeling better?" Shego asked. She nodded towards Kim's breakfast. The day was cold and overcast, grey light filtering through the thick clouds. It just might snow again today. "Something light for your stomach."

Kim felt slightly warm at the thought of Shego thinking about her when she was cooking breakfast.

"How did you sleep last night?"

Kim shrugged, running a hand through her hair and murmuring a barely audible 'thank you' for the meal. She watched Shego for a while, busy slurping up congee, mixing it with the shredded dry pork Fong had told Kim to give to Shego.

"What?" Shego looked at Kim suspiciously.

"Were you," Kim could vaguely remember the warmth of someone pressed against her and tried to ask the question in Chinese. "Were you holding me last night? It was warm."

Shego tilted her head to one side. "No. Maybe it was a dream. I set your room on fire," Shego joked. "I had every brazier in your room burning."

"Oh." Kim looked down at her food. Shego's mention of dreams made her mind wander back to the one she had that night. With her family, Ron and Monique... and Shego. "I had a dream last night."

Shego continued eating, not paying attention to Kim. At that moment, Kim was struck by how far away she was from everyone. On top of this mountain, in this big empty house she was totally alone. The only person there with her didn't seem to particularly like her much and their relationship was strange...

"Shego," Kim licked her lips. She wasn't afraid of the quick-tempered woman, she knew what Shego was capable of and was adamant in her belief that Shego might lash out, but there would never be any lasting damage.

Shego wouldn't hurt her like that.

Well, she had been wrong before... and what she was going to ask the dark-haired woman might trigger a bad reaction.

"I miss my family."

Shego flinched but didn't stop eating.

"I had a dream last night about them. I... I want to contact them, tell them I'm alright." Kim said hesitantly. That got Shego's attention. The woman put down her bowl and chopsticks and looked at Kim.

"No."

"I just," Kim could feel the tears coming. It was too much. She wanted to tell them at least she was alright. She was so afraid they might forget her or think she was dead. Kim needed to reach out to them, to convince her that she was still there, that she was alright and thinking about them. She didn't know why she was so upset, probably because of the dream before. It was like... it felt like if they didn't see her, she didn't exist. "Please, Shego."

Kim reached into her pocket and took out a piece of folded paper. When she had woken up that morning, before doing anything else, she had written this letter addressed to her family. Just telling them she was alright, not to worry and she would be back in two years. That was all she wanted to do.

"I wrote them a letter," Kim could hear the pleading in her voice, just didn't care. "Please. I just want them to know I'm alright. you can read it over, I just--"

"No." Shego repeated. Her voice was sharp and impatient.

"Here," Kim got up out of her seat, wiping away the tears that leaked out of the corners of her eyes. She held out the letter to Shego. "Please, Shego, please."

That was all the words she could dredge up before the tears closed up her throat and she couldn't do anything but cry silently. Shego took the letter out of Kim's hands.

"Look." Shego held up the letter. Then without pause, quickly ripped it into four. Shego tossed the remains of the letter on to her dinner tray and picked up the tray. Not saying another word, Shego walked out of the dining room, leaving Kim alone.

* * *

endnote: Eeee... Shego's tooooo cool. 


	16. Escape  Pina Colada Song

Escape(Pina Colada Song)

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M.

To answer someone's question, yes, I will still be posting this on FFnet, don't worry guys. :) Only the explicit ones I won't post on FF. And there probably won't be much of it. Or maybe there will! Ahahaha...

At the end of this chapter, there's some notes that you might like to read. Its like... research. Or something. Whatever. I'm at work and I'm braindead.

* * *

"Shego."

The council of elders watched the young woman impassively. Once again, they were in that house at the edge of the village, smokey with incense, and the elders formed a semi-circle around Shego. She had her back bared to them, her shirt hanging loosely from her arms. Naked from the waist up, Shego supressed a shiver as the cool air caressed her skin.

"How do you fare, child?"

"I am well," Shego replied emotionlessly.

A few more moments of silence and the elders exchanged glances amongst themselves, nodding, satisfied with what they saw. "We have seen enough."

Shego shrugged her shirt back on and buttoned it up. She turned after she had donned her shirt and bowed respectfully to the council.

"Honourable elders."

It was late. One of the many meetings they had had since Shego had been emersed in the secrets of Er Mei. The elders watched Shego's growth carefully, living records to her time in China. Though they were cautious, they were also joyful. In their lifetime, they had never had someone who had such frequent contact with the master of Er Mei.

"How is our lady?" Lo po-po spoke first.

"Our lady is well, and thanks the council for their well-wishes this New Year's." Shego replied. "She sleeps comfortably."

"The days grow longer." Ngan gon-gon, the youngest member of the council of elders spoke up. "She grows in strength as the monks grow more desperate." There was a pregnant pause as he looked thoughtfully at Shego. Shego returned his gaze unflinchingly. "Her state of mind?"

Shego's brow furrowed at the question. "She has some bad days. I try my best to calm her."

"Has she talked to Kim yet?"

"No. As you know, I've sent Kim down the mountain every time my master is able to come to the house." Shego gave her report calmly. "My master has only seen Kim that night under the effects of Cho gon-gon's tea. Now, my lady sleeps. But she will wake soon. In the spring, I will present Kim to her, then."

"We have heard," Tse po-po, a wizened old woman started to speak, "That you have asked for the history of our village to be told to the newcomer. Is she ready?"

"She is ready." Shego bowed again in the direction of the Lins. "Po-po, gon-gon... would you weave this story for us?"

The couple looked at each other again, then nodded gravely. "We will do this."

* * *

'Go, go, go, go...' Kim ran away, into the forest. The midday sun beat down upon her.

She had to run.

Away from the village.

Away from Er Mei.

Away from Shego.

Just... escape. Back to the life she knew, back to her family and friends. A small part of her frowned at what she was doing. But the larger part of her was too... traumatized to even register.

What happens to a bright young woman who's cut off from any kind of human interaction? A young woman who relied heavily on the many friendships and bonds that she had made in her life? It would be like cutting off the flow of sunlight and water to a flower. The flower would die. Kim was strong, though. She weathered out that transition, from the warm and attentive care of her friends and family to Shego's dark prison.

Though the village was a welcome respite from Shego's non-company, and the only-Chinese decree for communication had honed Kim's skills in the language so communication was easier; she had been bitten by the bug. No matter how kind people were, how welcoming, they weren't her family. They weren't her home. They didn't love her like her family and friends did. She was homesick.

'Great.' Kim looked around the forest, completely and utterly lost. She had just ran in a random direction, hoping that she'd get somewhere. Anywhere but here. Back to civilization. Away from the gruelling work that Shego assigned her, away from the watchful eyes of the village, just away from all of it.

Kim's stumbling steps suddenly halted, her vision shimmered in front of her as if there was a translucent film, blocking her way... Kim blinked and rubbed her eyes, just to make sure she wasn't seeing things. But there it was, clear as day. It seemed to stretch up to unimaginable heights and width. A barrier of some sort...?

'If its blocking my way,' Kim pressed her hand up against this barrier, felt it quiver under her touch. 'It must be either to keep people out... or keep people in.'

Making a quick decision, she lunged through the invisible boundary, surprised at how little the boundary resisted, as if there was nothing there at all. It just felt like she had walked through a bubble--

"Good afternoon."

Kim swung around, her insides were wound up so tightly that she immediately went into attack mode. Fists swung out and was blocked readily. Kim followed up with lightning-quick attacks and felt satisfied as each punch and kick met her target.

'Fighting skills maybe a bar or two higher than Fong's,' Kim looked at the figure on the forest floor, still on guard. 'But way below me. And he wasn't holding back--'

Alarms suddenly starting ringing in her head as she examined the man closely. He was shaved bald... in yellow robes and a red cloak that was draped over one shoulder.

"A monk," Kim tensed, remembering the condition Cheung and Fong had been in after a meeting with them.

"Please, stop." The downed monk held up a hand, another pressed on his chest as he tried to get his breath back. He looked at Kim curiously and pushed himself off the forest floor. "I have no quarrel with you. Why do you hit me?"

His Chinese was fast and clipped, Kim barely kept up.

"I," Kim cleared her throat. "I'm sorry. I was startled."

"That's fine, that's fine." He laughed, dusting himself off. The monk looked like he was in his late twenties to early thirties, but was probably older. Kim remembered Shego's off-hand remark one time about how asians aged well. His eyes shone with mirth. He had a strong jawline and the symmetry of his face was only marred by his nose, which looked like it had been broken one too many times to fix. He looked sort of like Cheung, actually.

"I was just sitting there," The monk pointed to a large flat rock nearby. "And then you came through the barrier suddenly!"

"What were you--wait," Kim let her guard down. "You can see it too?"

"I'm a monk," The man smiled. "I can sense things that are otherworldly, and that barrier is definitely otherworldly. Watch," The monk rolled up his sleeves, revealing a string of large beads. With a few muttered words, he reached out and touched the barrier. Immediately, it flared up in a sickly green colour, reacting violently to the monk's touch. Protective glyphs glowed a dull yellow. She could feel a crackling in the air as light pooled in front of the monk--

"Watch out!" Too late, the collection of power blasted outwards, covering the monk, but thankfully seemed to bend around a yellow aura surrounding his body.

"What was that?" Kim reached forward and touched the wall hesitantly. She could... feel it. Like a barrier of energy. But she could easily push her hand through with no ill effects.

"Its a barrier to keep me and all others like me, out." The monk looked at the barrier wryly, which was glowing angrily, making Kim's view of that part of the forest murky. The monk shook his head and held out a hand to Kim. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Nam Ho."

From years of manners pounded into her, Kim held out her hand in response and immediately gave her name. "Kim Possible. Nice to meet you."

"Are you sure?" Nam Ho raised an eyebrow teasingly and touched at a spot on his cheek that was quickly rising in a bruise. "I think I'm going to get a very nice bruise right here. And maybe you might have broken my nose. As if it hasn't been broken enough."

"Oh," Kim winced. "I'm so sorry, it was just, you know, reflexes." Kim paused, the asked miserably. "Is God going to strike me down?"

Nam Ho threw back his head and laughed now. When his bout of humour had passed, he wiped the tears that had leaked out of the corner of his eyes, still chuckling to himself. "No god's going to come and strike you down. It was an accident." He leaned forward and said in a loud stage whisper, "And its Buddha, not God."

Kim nodded. She suddenly remembered what she was doing out here in the wilderness. And this person just might have an answer to her question. "I need to find a phone or something. Do you have any idea where I could find one, please?"

The monk regarded her with inquisitive eyes, then nodded slowly. "There is one. But its in a village far away from the one you came from." The monk's smile was still pleasant and calm. "You did come from that village, didn't you?"

"Which one?" Kim asked cautiously. Maybe if she played dumb...

Nam Ho smirked, leaning back onto the rock he had been sitting on before. "We both know where. I can smell it on you." To prove it, he sniffed the air daintily. "It hangs on you, the magic protecting the village... and..." An eager look came over his face. "Er Mei. And that very pleasant scent of Shego."

"What are you, a human bloodhound?" Kim chuckled nervously and felt oddly protective. Smell Shego? Weird. Cheung's warning echoing in her mind. Be careful.

"No, I just have a nose for these things." Nam Ho tapped his nose, then jumped back onto the rock he had been sitting on before and resumed doing so, crossing his legs under him.

Kim's thirst for answers got the better of her. "What things?"

"Magic." Nam Ho smiled, and Kim got the feeling he had deliberately lured her into this line of conversation. "Evil magic."

"Evil's a pretty strong word." Kim couldn't help feeling defensive. Not for Shego, no. Definitely not. Being the sidekick of a maniacal blue-skinned self-professed evil genius definitely put you on the bad side, right? She was being defensive for the villagers... that's right, for people like Lo po-po, Cheung, Fong, Ting Ting and Cho gon-gon...

Nam Ho smiled and decided to change the subject. "Tell me Kim Possible. You seem to be on edge. Are you running away from something? And don't tell me you're not, because you keep on looking behind you, as if expecting someone to come looking for you..." Nam Ho wrapped his beads around his hands and closed his eyes, sitting in a meditative pose. "Could I help you with anything?"

Kim backed up a bit. Be careful. All her instincts were calling at her to flee. Physically, Kim knew she could take him down. But there was something about his serene face.

'Be cautious... be cautious, young one...' A foreign voice whispered, and Kim listened unconsciously, knowing what this voice was saying.

This man could hurt you.

"Where are you from, Kim Possible?" Nam Ho asked, eyes still closed. Kim had a feeling he could see her still, through his eyelids. "She Cun has washed away your scent, but I can still sense a tiny bit of it. You are not from here."

"She... Cun?" Kim furrowed her brows and translated the words slowly in her head. 'She... Cun. Snake Village.'

"They haven't told you anything, have they?" The monk opened his eyes and smiled sympathetically. "Not even the name of the village you inhabit?" Nam Ho's hands seemed to have a life of their own as they slowly moved the beads along, fingers nudging the beads forward, one after the other. An endless loop of beads to be counted. "I'm guessing, they probably haven't even told you who lords over that village." His eyes, Kim noticed, were a light mocha framed by long lashes. Nam Ho looked so... gentle. That was the only word she could think of to describe the monk.

"So why don't you tell me?" Kim asked.

Nam Ho shook his head. "Its not for me to tell you, is it?" His head suddenly rose and looked past her. "Seems like someone's coming to look for you. So I will quickly ask you a question: Can I see you again?"

"No," Kim shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

Despite the man's friendly attitude, she couldn't silence the voice inside that urged her to enter through the shield again, to put the barrier between her and this monk. Kim wanted to trust the man, she truly did. But every alarm was ringing inside of her.

"I can't enter without sending the whole village after me, and it seems like you can't exit without people coming to look for you." Nam Ho seemed to mistaken her refusal as a response to the problem the barrier posed, and not because she really didn't want to see him. "You would still be able to see me, Kim Possible, within the barrier. It seems like this is the first time you've crossed out. But now that you've crossed out, you can look inwards and outwards."

"Huh?"

Nam Ho laughed again. "Delightful. I'm looking forward to talking to you some more next time. Come near the boundary when you can slip away, and I will be able to feel you and come to you in an instance. Now," Nam Ho hopped off the rock and lowered himself into a fighting stance. "Lets pretend we're fighting for the sake of confusing them, hm?"

Kim was too confused to even refuse as he struck first and she blocked automatically. What had just happened?

"I'm not going to come back," Kim said more firmly. She twisted around his kick, and through the barrier, she could see a figure dressed in green and black hurtling towards them.

"Of course you will," Nam Ho's voice was condescending. "You will come back because you know you can't really trust anyone in that village. Least of all Shego. You trust me, though. Because everybody has told you not to trust a monk."

"That doesn't make any sense," Kim grunted as she blocked a fist. "And I don't trust you! I don't know what's going on here!"

"You know I have answers. You might not trust me," Nam Ho stumbled backwards when Kim clipped him with a round house kick. He grinned boyishly, gripping his shoulder and trying his best to ignore the pain. "But you want to trust me. And you must. For both of us."

"Kimmie!" A few more seconds and Shego would be upon them.

"I was lucky meeting you today, Kim Possible. I will see you soon." Nam Ho flipped backwards, into the undergrowth, disappearing from the area quickly.

"Come back here and fight like a man!" Shego stoppd beside Kim, pursuing for a few seconds. When it was apparent he wasn't going to turn back and accept her challenge, Shego came back to Kim, screeching to a halt in front of her.

"Are you alright?" Shego gave her a once over. "Did he hurt you?"

"No," Shego's concern had struck a cord in Kim, and she felt slightly dazed as Shego's green eyes pierced into her own. Shivered as Shego's hands rested on her shoulders, held her at arm's length to look at her closely. Under that gaze, she was helpless. Why did she want to run in the first place? "I'm fine."

"God, what are you doing out here?" Care turned into suspicion. "Why are you so far away from the village?"

Kim pulled out of Shego's grasp as if burned, suddenly remembering the cruel way Shego had denied her attempt to send word to her family that she was alright.

"I was taking a walk," Kim squared her shoulders, aware of how much she missed Shego's touch, the yearning inside her that she had carefully tamped down reared its ugly head. But Kim refused to let it get the better of her. "Or is that not allowed? Am I a prisoner, Shego?"

Shego's frame went rigid. "You're not a prisoner here."

"That's right, I'm not. Prisoners are allowed at least one phonecall." Kim knew she was being snippy, but she didn't care. "What, you thought I was trying to run away?"

"What am I supposed to think, Kimmie? You tell me!" Shego growled. "You can take a walk, but from now on I want you within the boundaries of the village. Or else you'll run into one of those. Do you even know who you were fighting?"

"No," Kim lied and bristled at the restriction Shego had put on her. "But I could easily beat him. He wasn't that tough."

"You can beat him, yes. But he could destroy you." Shego's voice finally caught Kim's attention. Was the usually cocky villainess... afraid? "Physically, you're stronger than him. Much stronger. That's what I trained you for. You haven't started your next stage of training. You can't even know what he could do to you right now."

"Who is he?"

"He's one of the five that can get into the village," Shego hissed. "An abbot. His name is Yeung Nam Ho."

"Yeung Nam Ho?"

"Did he look familiar to you? He should," Shego's eyes narrowed. "Its no coincidence: that guy you were fighting with is Cheung's older brother."

* * *

"Yeung Nam Ho... is Cheung's older brother." Lin po-po confirmed. Kim sat in front of the two Lins. The room was filled with the smell of incense, making the room hazy with the stuff. "Cheung's full name is Yeung Nam Cheung.

"Nam Ho didn't want to leave when his parents wanted to leave China, though. He liked it here." Lin po-po permitted herself an indulgent smile. "Very good boy. Wanted nothing more than to work through the hard times and make sure that the village was fed. And boy did we have hard times. Especially when the monks came." Lin po-po's face darkened. "They ran through one time, when they knew our defenses were weakest. Burned our village, razed our fields. Nam Ho fought brilliantly well, but he was captured. An old abbot back then, kept the boy near him and talked to him. To this day, we don't know what about. But it changed Nam Ho."

Lin gon-gon scratched the stubble on his chin. "Nam Ho... A few months after, he came to Lo po-po and asked her to remove him from the village."

"Remove him from the village?" Kim pondered out loud. "What do you mean?"

"This village," The Lins explained patiently, "Is protected by the most complicated spells. Each full moon, though, this spell weakens. The spell is this: Only people in this village could come and go freely. Only those who knew the way could show you the way."

"In short, this place cannot be found by any means except by the people who know about it." Lin po-po explained. "So you can't follow someone into this village nor can you force them to bring you. The mountain also has the same protective spell on it, but quite a bit stronger. So, where were we? Oh yes," Lin po-po clapped her hands together. "Nam Ho asked to be removed from the village and said he was going to join the monks. That was... a betrayal of the worst kind. But he told Lo po-po that if she didn't, he would be able to find this village, and he would bring others with him. He was a good boy..."

"Ha!" Lin gon-gon snorted. "Good boys don't betray their people! Removing him from the village, meant wiping out the magical signature this village left on him since he was here. So he would not be able to find his way back unless he forced his way in." Lin gon-gon was getting agitated as he slapped the arm of his chair with a quivering hand. "Which he did. Even Lo po-po's touch couldn't wipe away fully the memory of this village. The blood that ran through him gave him special privileges. The blood that ran through him makes him more adept than any damn monk in the arts! The blood that ran through him makes him great and he chooses to betray his blood with his gift!"

"Arts?" Kim tried to lighten the mood with a joke. "You mean like... drawing?"

Lin gon-gon scowled at Kim, not appreciating her attempt at humour.

"The mystical arts." Lin po-po said patiently. "Ask us, Kim: Who's blood did Nam Ho betray?" When it was apparent that the two Lins wouldn't continue until Kim did what they asked, she dutifully repeated the question.

"Who's blood did Nam Ho betray?" Kim asked, at which the two Lins beamed at each other before their expressions changed to one of utmost concentration. This was getting weird. Well, it was weird already when Shego had practically shut her up in this small house with the two elders. Shego had told her it was going to be an "educative experience", whatever that meant. Kim was pulled out of her thoughts as the room suddenly grew darker, the scented air heavier and more oppressive. Suddenly, a flash of light drew Kim's attention back to the two elders. They were studiously pulling strands of silvery brightness into their palms and weaving them together.

"Once upon a time... there were two snake demons who made their home on a mountain. This mountain was called Er Mei, and still is."

The light bent and warped to reveal a cross section of a cave. Inside the cavern, Kim could see serpentine coils...two snakes poured out of the mock-cavern, lazily rising up to look at their audience with their reptilian eyes. One snake was bigger than the other, its skin an incandescent white. There was an underlying pinkish tone to the white snake, giving its fearsome girth a certain femininity. The other snake was smaller, but not by much. Its yellow eyes were polished amber orbs which regarded everyone curiously, its rich green coils winding around the large white snake's body nervously.

Lin po-po smiled kindly at her creations. "Madam White Snake and the younger Green Snake. Bai Su Zhen and Xaio Qing."

Both names rang a bell in Kim's head. Xaio Qing she remembered... when Shego had been mysteriously injured that time. And the story the two elders were telling was somehow vaguely familiar to Kim... but Kim didn't have time to consider as the elders' glamour engulfed them.

* * *

endnote: Babes, its DONE. Well, not, done as in YEAH, DONE THE SERIES! I actually started on chapter 16 long time ago and finished it at the same time. Then I deleted it and started over again. The first draft was a good few pages longer than this one, but I wasn't satisfied with it cuz it wasn't flowing as nicely as I wanted it to, knawhai'msayin'? Its still not flowing as nicely as I'd like, but if I don't get through with this chapter soon, we'll be stuck here forever and I'll never finish 'a few new tricks'.

Now I'll give you guys the inside scoop on this story if some of you who are savvy in Chinese myths haven't already guessed: I've basically dropped Kim Possible into the Legend of Lady White Snake. Google the story on the internet and you'll figure out there's a lot of different versions. Next few chapters will probably explain more.

In case you haven't noticed, Cheung has always been just 'Cheung' in the past few chapters(or maybe I've already given him a name and I just forgot... if I did, then shit). I never gave him a full name cuz I couldn't think of one. And yes, before any of you mention it, it is sorta a half-assed escape. lol.


	17. Reconciliation

Reconciliation

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M.

Yeah for you guys who keep reading! This will be my last update maybe for a while. School is starting... but you can always count on the procrastination to motivate me to churn out more! Oh yeah:D

* * *

Shego stood, her body frozen in a martial arts stance. One knee was lifted up so she balanced on one foot, while both arms were raised to form a straight line from right hand to left hand, angled downwards slightly. Ting Ting stood beside her, body frozen in a similar pose.

So cute.

Simultaneously, they both started moving slowly, one arm sweeping down, the other reaching up to the sky. While their upper body moved with careful grace, the one foot that hung suspended in the air stomped down with significant force. Their upper body was already twisting around agilely, reminding one of a dance while their legs executed two quick kicks, vanquishing invisible enemies. Now, Shego and Ting Ting's legs slowed to a sluggish pace, tracing lazy patterns in the sand as their hands and wrists twisted quickly in a dizzying motion. Open-palmed, their fingers lead the way, performing short but deadly bursts of attack. The sequence advanced to the next stage as the lower body was drawn into the whirlwind pace of attack that the upper part of the body was setting. The two, woman and child, utilized the whole of the space they had; their deadly dance taking them far from each other, than back together again. Neither engaged the other nor did they show that they saw each other. They spun, back to back, a flurry of jabbing and lurching steps that were coupled with deceptively slow sweep with the an elbow followed by three quick moves: a twisting of the body accompanied by a quick jab with the hands with fingers extended, and a kick that started with the knees making contact with whatever enemy they were fighting in their minds, to a full extension of the leg.

Now the careful flow was broken as they both moved sinuously, but halting sporadically in their shadow-fight, bodies bursting forward into a fierce strike, then backing up. Both in constant motion. Even though they weren't attacking, their bodies moved, swaying lazily but would be ready at a moment's notice to strike. Just as suddenly as it started, their bodies slowed down until movement was at a snail's pace, and anyone who would happen upon them now would have thought they were doing tai chi. The exercise ended with both of them freezing back into the position they had started in.

Shego's body moved with the practised ease of a dancer, each movement was precise and thought out, no movement was wasteful. She conserved every second and every inch she had to move, weighing out the pros and the cons of even a crook of a finger. Shego's control was incredibly impressive. Throughout the exercise, her face remained impassive and relaxed, not showing the intense concentration the fast and slow fighting-dance required of her. She was beautiful and incredibly dangerous all at once. Shego was irresistable. Within a few seconds of the end of the exercise, Shego's breathing had slowed back to normal, her heart beating steadily.

Ting Ting, though accomplishing the exercise flawlessly, was heaving. Her face had contorted into weird expressions as her young mind scrambled to not screw up the complicated chain of motion.

So. Cute.

"Please... Shego?" Ting Ting begged. The little pig-tailed girl held up one finger, pouting prettily and doing a pretty impressive copy of Kim's puppy-dog face. "One candy?"

'That's so not fair,' Shego's resolve evaporated instantaneously in the face of that look. She sighed and went to a bag sitting at the edge of the clearing. She returned to the gleeful Ting Ting holding up a bottle of coca-cola and assorted candy wrapped in cellophane and tied with a curly ribbon.

"Happy belated birthday," Shego surrendered the items to the little girl's grasping hands; the little girl who was now hiccuping with wildly joyful giggles. "Since you gonna lose those baby chompers anyways... don't tell your dad who's been helping you rot those teeth, okay?"

"Kay!" Ting Ting accepted those gifts happily with a quick "sze-sze" and a deep bow that toppled the girl that had balanced so well on so many ocassions during her practise.

"Good girl, but be careful." Shego crouched down, bouncing on her heels slightly. "And don't say I don't give you anything." Shego took out a fat red envelope and handed it to the young girl. Again, Ting ting bowed prettily and thanked Shego, her heart more into the candy and coca-cola than the money in the red pocket.

"Open?" Ting Ting pulled the puppy-dog look again and held the coca-cola bottle out to Shego. "Please?"

"Where did you learn that?" Shego grumbled. She took the glass bottle and opened it easily.

"Kim!" Happily, the little girl started guzzling the soda. Shego frowned at the mention of Kim's name, but tried to smile in the face of those innocent eyes. The green-eyed girl wasn't fast enough though, and Ting Ting caught the grimace.

"You don't like Kim?"

Shego sighed and sat back. How to explain it to a child? ... why was she explaining it to a child! But who else was there to talk to?

"Okay, pinkie swear," Shego held up a pinkie. "You don't tell anyone, not even your daddy or ah Fong."

"Mommy?"

Shego winced at the title. "Yes. Mommy." Another sore point. But it was to be expected. Slowly, day by day, Shego was getting over her. And every day that heartache lessened bit by bit, she realized that she had made the right choice.

"Sure!" Ting Ting hooked her pinkie to Shego's and tried to conjure up a serious expression on her face. So cute. "Cross my heart!" Her little fingers made a cross over her heart.

Why pour your heart out to a little girl who would never understand adult feelings? Who else could she talk to in this village? The elders... that was too embarassing and weird. Cheung was out of the question and Michelle... well... that would just open a whole can of worms. There was no-one else she was close to in this village. There was Kim. But what she was going to say was about her, so that was a no go. Then there was... but she just wasn't a choice... So basically Shego had no-one.

'Except for little miss stuff-your-face,' Shego smiled kindly at the girl who was ripping into the little package of candy at a frightening rate. Shego's feelings for Ting Ting were very transparent. Shego would deny it, but everyone could see that the woman had a soft spot for the little five year old girl.

"Why so bum, chum?" Ting Ting slapped Shego on the arm, a bright smile on her face. Shego chuckled and accepted a gummy worm from Ting Ting. This was good. Shego, no matter how much she wanted to deny it, was no island. The villainess might not need people to talk to, to respond to her. But she wanted that comfort of having someone listen to her.

"Well, you see, it all started with me and ah Fong--your mommy. When she got married to your daddy."

Ting Ting sipped her cola, listening attentively, giggling.

"What's so funny?" Shego asked, poking the little girl playfully.

"I saw," Ting Ting covered her mouth with her hands, eyes wide and doing a very good impression of a scandalized gossip-monger. "I saw you and mommy kissing!" Ting Ting closed her eyes and started puckered up her lips, making faces at Shego.

"You can't tell anyone that either!" Shego shrieked. A kid barely out of her diapers had dirt on the great Shego. Who would of thought?

"Why?" Ting ting brought up some very good questions. Questions that Fong and Shego had always fought about. Why can't people know? Was she ashamed of her? Was she afraid of their relationship? Well. That's over now.

"Because." Shego didn't have an answer. It had been an irrational fear. She knew deep inside of her, that people knew, people talked.

"Oh. Okay." Ting Ting paused in her devouring of the sweets. "But all the other kids saw you too."

Shego blushed red. "What! Where? When!"

"Last Chinese New Year's!" Ting Ting grinned. "When you and mommy went away during lion dance!"

"Did you see anything after?" Shego's face, though it seemed impossible, grew even redder.

"No," Ting Ting shook her head. "After, Lo po-po came to find us, and she saw too! So she says peeking is bad."

"God," Shego drew out the groan. She knew Lo po-po knew about her and Fong... but she hadn't known the old woman KNEW!

"Boobie," Ting Ting giggled, revealing just how much she had seen before Lo po-po had come along. Which meant the old woman had probably caught an eyeful.

* * *

Lo po-po had noted that the children had all sneaked off en masse, so she had followed them. They were all standing on tiptoes, the taller ones lifting the smaller ones up to stare through Shego's window. Periodically, they tried to stiffle their conspiratorial giggles. Lo po-po regarded these children with arms crossed, trying to summon the righteous fury of a parent, but failing so badly. They all looked so cute! But she had to be strong, so Lo po-po squared her shoulders and called out to them in a harsh whisper.

"What are you children doing?" Lo po-po frowned at their backs. They all turned, their eyes widened, looking very much like mice caught in the rice jar.

"Shego..." A breathless whisper reached Lo po-po's ears, and her head shot up to look at what caught the children's attention. What she saw made her jaw drop. Her grand-neice was lying on top of a table, with Shego above her, kissing the girl with tender urgency. Fong's shirt had been torn open at the front, revealing a plain white bra that Lo po-po dimly noted she had bought for her grand-niece just a while ago. That same bra was being pushed up to bare the soft, flushed skin of Fong's breasts. Shego's mouth descended on that skin hungrily and Fong arched up, groaning in pleasure.

"Okay kids, back to the lion dance! They might be serving the desserts now." Lo po-po started shooing the children away quietly, and pressed a finger to her lips to signal to them to go quietly. "Not a word to anyone, okay? Not a word!" Though they quavered under Lo po-po's stern gaze, she knew that children were very much like adults when it came to gossip: like sieves.

Lo po-po glanced once more at the window and shook her head as her grand-niece tossed her head back wantonly, reveling in the pleasure Shego was giving her.

'At least close your shutters,' Lo po-po rolled her eyes. A quick jerk of her head, and the shutters shut quietly by themselves, as if blown by an invisible wind. Neither Shego nor Fong noticed, too wrapped up in each other to notice, their mutual pleasure brought them to that very pleasant place where only the two existed, and everything else was below notice.

* * *

"Okay." Shego massaged the bridge of her nose as feelings warred inside of her. Panic, yes, even Shego felt panic; panic at the fact that people knew. Why? She didn't know why. Guilt. There was the guilt. So hiding it had been useless. People already knew. But if she denied it... there was always a chance... but above all those feelings, that constant and familiar anger, fueled by all the frustration this was causing her. Lashing out at the faces in this village that had become familiar to her.

'So they knew all along... but they never told me...' Shego raged inside. 'They probably went around talking to each other, like we were some feature of the week!'

"What happened?" Ting Ting tilted her head to the side. "Why don't you talk to mommy anymore?"

Shego let out a short bark of laughter. Her throat felt closed up with bitterness. "I shouldn't see your mommy anymore, Ting Ting. She..." Shego paused, swallowed. "...loves your daddy."

"I love my daddy too!" Ting Ting nodded solemnly, agreeing with her mommy's choice. "But..." Ting Ting crossed her arms, trying to act grown-up and pensive. "You don't like mommy anymore?"

Shego softened. "I like your mommy just fine. Its just not good if I'm still there, you know?"

Ting Ting shook her head. "Nope."

"Okay," Shego reached out quickly and stole the coca-cola Ting Ting had been sipping.

"No!" the little girl howled in despair, hands trying unsucessfully to retrieve the stolen drink.

"See, that is how I know your daddy will feel if I like your mommy." Shego returned the coca-cola to the girl, having made her point. Ting Ting held the bottle of soda close to her, watching the expression on Shego's face with intelligent sensitivity. Making a decision, she held the bottle up grudgingly to Shego.

"What's this?"

"Daddy teaches me to share." Ting Ting poked out her lower lip courageously. "You can take a sip. Don't be sad, Shego."

The child soothed her raw nerves and Shego shook her head. "No, Ting Ting. Its... you know, some things you just don't share. And your daddy would never share your mom. And I wouldn't ask him to do it. That would be selfish."

"Sharing is selfish?"

"You'll get it when you get older." Shego rubbed the girl's head affectionately.

"Okay!" Ting Ting smiled. "Finish the story!"

The green-eyed villainess rubbed the back of her head and leaned back, her arms supporting her. The sky was almost cloudless, except for a few puffs of cotton-candy clouds in the sky. "Well, your mommy and I decided it would be better if we didn't like each other. So now you have a new mommy."

"But what about you? Don't you want a mommy too?" Ting Ting's line of reasoning and her problem-solving skills needed a lot of work.

Shego choked on her laughter. "No... I don't."

"Oh. Okay." Ting Ting made an impatient gesture with her hand that was pure Fong. The young girl was at that age where she was soaking things up like a sponge. "So...?"

"So... Kim and I... well we kissed." Shego paved over the rest of the details. The little girl really didn't need to know where Shego was kissing the other girl... she wouldn't understand anyways.

"Oh!" Ting Ting clapped her hands. "You're gonna get married!"

"No." Shego shook her head in exasperation. "Well... its bad for us to be together. Its just not a good idea."

"Why?"

"Because we're not supposed to like each other. This wasn't supposed to turn out like this!" Shego moaned and buried her head in her hands. "She was the one person I was supposed to not care about!"

"But you like her. And Kim likes you." Ting Ting, even though she was just a little child, was highly perceptive. But all children were like that.

"Well, not anymore." Shego sighed. "I got her angry. She's not really in the forgiving mood."

"You can say you're sorry. And do this," Ting Ting demonstrated the puppy-dog face that Kim was so adept in.

"Yeah," A new voice broke through the clearing. "Why don't you just apologize?"

Shego scrambled to her feet, the wall she had lifted up when she was talking to Ting Ting slammed back into place. She watched as the redhead they had been talking about approached them at a leisurely rate, a look on her face that made Shego nervous.

"Hey Ting Ting, you mind if Shego and I had a talk alone?" Kim knelt down to talk to the young girl. Ting Ting nodded solemnly. She dashed away, then dashed back, holding out the coca-cola to Kim.

"No, that's okay." Kim shook her head, eyes travelling over to Shego. "Its your birthday gift. This is something you don't have to share."

Shego made to follow Ting Ting, but Kim's hand shot out to catch Shego's arm. Immediately, Shego twisted out of the grip, but Kim reached out again, grabbing Shego's shirt. Shego kicked out, and to avoid being hit, Kim let go but caught hold of Shego again with her other hand. They twisted around each other, one trying to get away, the other holding on.

'She's improved.' Shego thought, impressed that the strict regiment of exercise had indeed made Kim stronger. Shego grunted, blocked a jarring hit. 'But not at my level yet. A little bit more, but not yet.'

While before Shego could disengage Kim skillfully and quickly, now it was like a blind man trying to wildly hammer a nail into the board. He'll get it, sure. But it would lack finesse. And Shego had to admit, she was struggling to keep Kim down with her share of bruises.

"Bulked up, Kimmie?" Shego grunted. She had wrapped around Kim from the back, an arm pressed against her neck, applying a slight bit of pressure as a warning. "Think you can take me on, sweetheart?"

"Stop... fighting me." Kim tried to throw Shego off, but Shego only tightened her hold. "We... have to... talk."

"About what?" Shego snarled.

"Xaio Qing."

Shego let go suddenly and rolled away, the name of her master alarming her. But she relaxed quickly.

"What do you want to know?" As long as Kim didn't want to talk about the conversation she had just heard between her and Ting Ting, she was fine.

Kim sat on the ground, rubbing her neck. "So this village is..."

"She Cun." Shego answered the unspoken question. "This is the home of the descendants of Bai Su Zhen."

Shego remembered the story of Lady White Snake, as told by her master. Two snake demons; one white, one green. One was named Bai Su Zhen and the other Xaio Qing. The elder and the younger respectively. Bai Su Zhen had fallen in love with a mortal named Xu Xian. Because Bai Su Zhen loved her husband so much, she transformed into a human. Xu Xian fell in love with her on sight and married her later on, never suspecting that he had bound himself to a snake in human form.

"He was a useless fool." Xaio Qing had said bitterly. "He was so fearful all the time. He was not good to Bai Su Zhen. He didn't trust her at all. When that damn monk came along..."

Abbot Fa Hai had gotten wind of these two powerful snake demonesses posing as humans and convinced Xu Xian to test his wife by giving her realgar wine. The celebratory beverage was drank during Dragonboat festivals. Bai Su Zhen had thought her magic would keep her safe from the affects of the wine, but by the second cup, she had dashed the drink to the floor and retired to her bedroom, violently ill.

"Bai Su Zhen sent me away." Xaio Qing sighed. "We demons do not do well during Dragonboat festivals. Humans decorate their houses with calamus and mugwort to keep spirits away. I was... not as powerful now as I was back then. I would have suffered greatly if I stayed behind, so I went home to Er Mei to wait out the festival."

When Xaio Qing had returned to the home Bai Su Zhen had made for the three of them, she found Bai Su Zhen in snake form writhing listlessly in bed while Xu Xian lay on the floor. The shock of seeing his wife as a snake had shocked him to death.

"She loved him so much, she even went to steal a ressurective plant to bring him back to life." Shego's master spat out. Every time Xaio Qing told Shego the story, she would get agitated. "Ungrateful bastard that he is. As soon as he was ressurected, he went to the monk to plead for sanctuary from his monster of a wife."

"The stories are, she was the kindest human or demon anybody could have the pleasure to be around." Shego recited, having heard her master pronounce that fact so often. Kim nodded, needing to hear it from Shego. It was all too much. To have people she barely knew tell her this outrageous story. Kim needed to hear it from someone she could trust.

Kim didn't know why Shego was the first person she sought out.

"I killed that bastard." Xaio Qing said with grim satisfaction. Bai Su Zhen had gone to beg for her husband back, but Fa Hai turned her away. The ensuing fight ended up in tragedy, with Fa Hai's monastary and the monks in it washed away by floodwaters Bai Su Zhen and Xaio Qing had unleashed and lost control of. Bai Su Zhen had gone into labour. She delivered her son, only to be consumed by the out of control waves. Fa Hai had managed to save Bai Su Zhen's infant son.

"I didn't save her," The sound of the green snake's voice, choked on anger and tears, echoed in Shego's head. "But I killed Xu Xian."

"So her son..." Kim prompted.

"Xu Shi Lin." Shego nodded. "Most of these people are his descendants. Shi Lin was raised by Fa Hai, but abandonned the old abbot when Xaio Qing came for him. He settled here, where his descendants dwell, still. Some stay, some go and some come back."

"Why stay here, though?"

Shego smiled wryly. "Kimmie, what are you trying to say?"

Kim flushed indignantly. "Well, its a valid question! Why stay here when--"

"--when civilization is just around the corner?" Shego smiled. "Yeah. I thought that too when I was here. But here, each person has everything that they need. This is home to them. Xaio Qing is their provider and protector, and though there are no technological miracles here, they want nothing. There is no bond in this village greater than what every person has to Xaio Qing. It is a duty they all do. They're free to leave. But most come back."

Kim nodded and the two fell into a tense silence, both embroiled in their own thoughts.

What Kim had seen with the elder Lins made her re-evaluate Shego. Maybe she had been a little unfair. What the Lins showed her showed her a Shego that she recognized and a side of her arch-nemesis that she never saw. Kim was regaled with the story of Lady White Snake, the whole drama unfolding in front of her like an interactive story. She was also shown Shego's integration into village life. How she fought against the monks and made herself a celebrity in the village. And how Shego had made her trek to Er Mei with Grandma Lo to meet someone.

"Well, this is nice." Kim said loudly, gesturing around the area. It was a small alcove at the side of the village, surrounded by trees. Here, grass receded and allowed for a dusty clearing to exist in the centre, a perfect sparring arena. If one looked up, the sky stretched up to unimaginable heights above them, framed by the rich green of leaves.

Shego nodded, looking upwards. The cotton-candy clouds had disappeared, and now the sky was just a rich blue canopy. "It is."

More silence.

"Okay, I might as well apologize first, because if I wait for you, we'll be here forever." Kim took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

Shego stayed silent for a few seconds more before nodding her head. "I accept your apology. Though I don't know what you're apologizing for."

"Ha!" Kim beamed, taking a step forward triumphantly. "So you're saying sorry?"

"For what?" Shego asked innocently, a smirk on her face.

In response, Kim threw a playful punch in Shego's direction, starting the two off in that comfortable space where they knew each other and their bodies did the talking. Where every phrase that they threw out at each other was anticipated, the actions never deceptive, the 'why?'s always answered with a 'because'. And both were satisfied with that answer in the pain and thrill of combat. In the exilerating competitiveness between the two, the mountain of skill Shego had put in between them that had been insurmountable now seemed conquerable.

The two foes traded smiles in between themselves. This was a familiar niche, the rhythm was something they both recognized. This dance was routine. This was a groove they had once known by heart but forgotten. Shego and Kim would learn the steps again.

Just whoever was playing this music; play on, brother, play on.

* * *

endnote: critism, comments, suggestions and even a whazzzzzaaaaa! is welcome. :D I love you guys! Ahahah, I'm going to NY for the labour day long weekend! Hip hip, HURRAH:D

p.s. Get Natasha Bedingfield's new CD. SO GOOD.


	18. Turning Point

Turning Point

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M.

So I started this before I started chapter 9 of Killings. My god. I'm such a slacker. At least I uploaded Killings first, right?

But here you go, guys. This chapter is sorta a turning point, so it might seem kinda hurried and way too fast in its 'turning'. What do you think? Reviews are totally welcome and so appreciated. I don't reply to most of them cuz I'm at work most of the time, and I only got time to write fanfiction. lol. Slacking waaaay too much.

* * *

"Team B on site. Advise us on your location Team A." Jim let go of the call button on his Kimmunicator. They had maintained radio silence since deploying from an aircraft that one of the many people who owed Kim Possible a favour, had graciously lent the new Team Possible. Jim and Tim both hated that title. The new Team Possible. That title assumed that there was an old Team Possible. And that the old Team Possible was gone. There was no new Team Possible. There were a few people trying to fill in the gap that Kim Possible had left behind, just until she got back. Then Team Possible would get back to normal.

_Dearest family and friends..._

The Kimmunicator's tiny screen came alive with a visual of Monique, the chosen leader of the group. "You okay, boys?"

"Yeah, we're cool." Tim grinned at the screen. "Where are you guys?"

"Wind blew us off course a bit. We'll be meeting you shortly. Just stay where you are."

_First off, how are you guys? I miss you so much, and I know you must be dying for news from me, so here it is._

Jim leaned against a tree and crossed his arms, sinking into a brooding silence. While his twin had managed to keep up the facade of carefree happiness, Jim hadn't been able to do it. He wallowed in his grief and anger. Though the two twins might have caused their sister endless grief when she was around, it was their childish way of showing how much they cared for her. And they cared a lot.

_I'm doing alright, you don't need to worry about me._

The letter had come in the mail a little under a year after Kim's disappearance and it had soothed the Possibles' nerves. After comparing Kim's scrawlings with examples they had handy and confirming that it was indeed their Kim, everybody breathed a sigh of relief. Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Possible in particular, finally relaxed. Their only daughter was safe. The letter had been torn into pieces, but someone had taped it back together and sent it to the Possible residence. There was no return address, no postmark, its outward appearance giving off the impression that it was untraceable.

"It'll be difficult, but nothing's impossible for Team Possible." Wade had said grimly. Monique had sent Wade a precious corner of that letter for him to analyze.

_You don't need to look for me, I am well taken care of and will be back approximately three years since I left._

The residue of juice from the plant 'litchi chinensis' was the clue that cinched the deal. Wade pinpointed the exact area in which this tropical plant would be able to grow timing when it would be in season; garnering the information on how it was cultivated from just that small splotch of juice, the kind of minerals in the soil the plant grew in... all these facts and many other little markers would help Wade to, hopefully, find what they all needed. Kim Possible.

_I'm not being held against my will, sort of... but the important thing is that I'm okay and you guys are okay. It's so not the drama._

"Hey, we're here." Monique came through the underbrush. She was wearing an exact copy of Kim's mission clothes, designed specially for her frame. Standing in for Kim had taken a toll on Monique's life. It meant that she left her beloved Club Banana. It also meant that she didn't have much of a social life and she was constantly tired.

'How does the world manage to get itself into peril time and time again?' Monique thought wearily. She had very little time for work, what with school and the team coming first. More like with the team coming first. Because the world was always placed before her own selfish needs, such as education. 'Is this how Kim spends her days? I wouldn't be surprised if she really just took a little holiday away from everything.'

Ron dug Rufus out of his pocket and grinned at the molerat. Besides sporting a slightly shaggier hairstyle (courtesy of Monique's styling tips), Ron seemed to not have changed a bit since Kim left. Perpetually the sidekick, he was happy as long as he had someone to lead and things to do to keep his mind off of Kim.

"Where's my baby?" Jim, asked, after acknowledging Monique and Ron's presence. In response to his question, there was suddenly the sound of some four-legged creature rushing towards them. Bursting through the brush, a skinny german shepherd with floppy ears jumped on Jim, attacking him with wet kisses.

"Down, boy!" Jim laughed, pushing away the dog's insistant attack. "Down!"

Obediently, the canine sat down, quivering with excitement. Only seven months old, he had been trained incredibly well. After Kim's disappearance, Jim had dealt with the loss far worse than anybody else. He had locked himself in his room and even isolated himself away from his twin. His parents, though grief-stricken by their daughter's kidnapping, noticed this alarming behaviour. Mr. Dr. Possible had found a solution after extra attention, bribes/gifts and finally visits to a psychiatrist didn't work.

"A dog is a boy's best friend." Mr. Dr. Possible had gone to a breeder and found a purebred german shepherd pup. Nobody could resist that adorable ball of fluff. "Jim, this puppy is yours. You'll have to take care of him, you hear? He's your responsibility. He's a living breathing creature, so he can get sick, hungry, lonely or cold. Its up to you to make sure he's well-taken care of and all of his needs are seen to. He has to be housebroken and trained properly. Right now he's just a baby, so he's going to depend on you a lot."

Jim was entranced by the tiny life that he cradled in his arms. The puppy felt... oddly fragile. Jim could feel its downy fur tickling his arm, the tiny heart pumping quickly in reaction to all these new strangers. Jim's eyes ran over the length of the pup's black and blonde body and its coal-black face.

"What about Tim?" Jim looked up at his father. Mr. Dr. Possible noted that Jim didn't need to look up that far anymore. He was getting big. But at times like this, when Jim showed how vulnerable he was, father remembered that this was his son; this young boy was sitting on the fence between the world of children and adults in that often times confusing space of adolesence.

"I don't have time for a puppy." Tim shrugged, holding out his fingers to the dog so it could nibble on them. Mr. Dr. Possible had actually had a talk with Tim, explaining the situation to the boy, even offering Tim a puppy of his own if he wanted.

"Maybe later." Tim was by no means less shocked than Jim by Kim's disappearance. Tim just dealt with it one day at a time. And a puppy, something that required him to invest emotions in... Tim couldn't. He had a hard enough time dredging up the emotions to make things seem normal, or as normal as things could be without Kim. He knew his parents suffered a great deal more than he did, and it was with the insightfulness of an adult that he saw that.

_I know all of you will worry despite what I say, but you have to trust me on this one._

"Tigger, time to put all that training into practise, k?" Jim knelt down in front of the dog, talking to the black-faced dog seriously. Tigger was the perfect crucible for Jim's roiling anger and resentment against the world that he saw had failed his sister in her time of need. Tigger barked excitedly and pranced around, wagging his tail furiously in his excitement but made himself calm down as Jim held out a shirt to the dog. Sniffing inquisitively at the cheerleader's top, Jim let Tigger take his time. He could afford no mistakes. Not only did the german shepherd draw Jim back into society, but Jim found an outlet for his smoldering emotions. Tigger was trained specifically to aid Team Possible. Where technology failed in finding his sister, Jim hoped this animal would succeed.

"Find Kim." Jim snapped his fingers, getting Tigger's attention. "You hear me, baby? Find. Kim."

The dog whipped the air with his tail, eager to please his master, but obediently waiting for the word that would let him loose. He had the scent, and it was entrenched in his mind. Jim hooked a leash onto Tigger's harness and stood up. Jim had realistic expectations. Tigger, though he had an amazing nose, would probably not be able to find anything on the first try. Besides, they had a large area to cover. But Jim was determined to come back again and again, combing the grid he had set up until his dog picked up something. He had absolute faith in Tigger. Everybody else had failed in finding Kim. He could only count on himself. Jim firmly believe that where others failed, he would succeed on the simple fact that he was a Possible, and by adoption, so was Tigger.

Anything's possible for a Possible.

"Find, Tigger, FIND!"

_I'll be back soon. I love and miss you guys so much you won't believe it. xxooxxoo. Kim Possible._

* * *

"One, two and three." Shego held Kim's hand, guiding her towards the completion of the character she was trying to write. It had been the end of a tiring day. A rope course had been added to the drills Kim had already been given, testing her on her agility and ability to finish the course in a limited amount of time. It was basically a web of rope strung across a clearing south of the marsh course. Lately, Shego had been turning every drill into a game of tag. Speed was the name of the game. Kim had mainly been focusing on strength and balance, so it was a welcome respite when Shego announced the change. Her routine was constantly different now, with Shego as the wildcard in Kim's exercises. The change also made them closer. Though Shego tried her best to keep their interactions just civil, she was too easily drawn into the playful banter that she was accustomed to with Kim. Some times, Kim would throw in blatant innuendoes and wait for Shego to respond to them. Instead of addressing it, most of the time, Shego would try to ignore whatever comment Kim had made. It was too embarassing and tiring to keep checking Kim's words. Besides. It was mainly harmless, right? It was just run-off from their night together and Kim knew not to expect anything. They had come to a good place, the both of them. Shego had grudging admitted to herself that all the trials and tribulations had drawn them closer and made them situational friends. Situational. So they weren't REAL friends.

'Keep trying to convince yourself,' Shego's sarcastic inner voice deadpanned. 'Maybe it'll be true one day.'

"Got that?" Shego asked, letting go of Kim's hand. Calligraphy, was an artform that Shego admired. To her delight, she could see that Kim's writing was beautiful. Long, fluid... just beautiful. Shego had encouraged this skill, and now Kim was assigned several pages of homework every night to hone her craft. The redhead didn't mind at all. The added work only meant that Shego spent more time with her in a slightly more intimate setting than when they were training.

Kim decided to press her luck. "One more time."

Shego sighed and leaned fully against Kim so that now her front was pressed snugly against Kim's back. "Okay, one more time. I'm gonna be here until you get this, even if you have to stay up til dawn."

'God,' Kim thought in miserable happiness. 'I'm a perverted old man.'

Where their bodies connected, Kim could feel that slow rumble of Shego's voice, that sensual voice that never seemed to stop sending pleasant tingles down Kim's spine. Making her aware that there was always a part of her that was tuned into Shego. Shego was Kim Possible's greatest enemy, afterall. But now the danger was coupled with a sense of attraction. Kim took great care in keeping her feelings toned down and subtle. She didn't want Shego to shut her out again.

It was so tempting, though. Shego was. So tempting. There was always a... kind of mouth-watering scent that clung to Shego and right now, Kim was going crazy as she sat there with the object of her affections so close to her. The swell of the attractive villain's breasts mashed against her back was distracting. It was so easy to richochet from one emotion to another where Shego was concerned. From burning hatred, to smoldering lust, to a feeling of total dejection. Shego could make her feel like that. Maybe it was because Shego was the only person Kim saw for months on end. But that desire for Shego that had come to life that moment on the night of Fong's wedding, had not died despite Shego's attempts at sabotaging them. In fact, Kim could say that it had grown.

"There. One," A swath of black ink appeared. The first stroke. "Two." Another gentle brush of black ink succeeded by a number more.

"Next time we make a trip down Er Mei, we'll get Cho gon-gon to help you with the characters I'm not familiar with." Shego leaned forward and turned her face towards Kim, who had done the same thing to look at her. They were very close. "Cho gon-gon's calligraphy is awesome."

Kim leaned forward unconsciously. "Yeah."

Shego froze as she suddenly realized how close they were. One... two... three... seconds passed. Maybe more. Kim leaned her head to the side a little, mouth parted just a tad in anticipation--

"Getting late, isn't it?" Shego said loudly, breaking the silence and standing up abruptly. Her stretch was exaggerated, and so was her yawn. Kim watched in amusement, noting that Shego's cheeks appeared flushed. Interesting. "Well, goodnight!"

"I thought you were going to keep me up... until dawn?" Kim said mischeviously, the innuendo not lost on Shego. The colour of Shego's reddening face went up a shade, realizing she was losing in the game that she normally was a master at. Shego could not acknowledge the flirting words, could not try to one-up Kim because she knew, just knew Kim wouldn't back down. Shego knew that the finale of this interesting tete-a-tete, should Shego choose to continue, would only conclude in a release of the sexual tension it would build up. Something Shego did not want at all.

"Good night--sh--!" Shego hated the fact that her voice was particularly high-pitched as she tripped her way out of Kim's room.

Kim's light laughter reached her ear as she ran away from the room. "Sweet dreams, Shego."

Shego crossed the tiny distance from Kim's room to her own, quickly closing the door behind her, her heart pounding a mile a minute. If she didn't... she didn't know what she was capable of. Being out of the near vicinity of Kim Possible helped a little bit... but just a little. That bit of her that had awakened in her training now strained against her control, urging her to run down and throw that teasing redhead to the ground and take her--no. Control. It was all about control. Xaio Qing told her it would be hard--but she won't have to deal with it for long. Not for long. But now, she had to solve the question of the frustration the had welled up inside her.

'Meditation.' Shego sat in front of her table and lit several sticks of incense. 'Meditation will help... meditation...'

She closed her eyes and rested her hands on her knees, trying to free her mind of any thoughts and found that she was successful. For a while, anyways. Within a few minutes of relaxing into that state of mind one needed to attain for meditation, one prominent thought decided to worm its way into Shego's mind.

Fong's wedding night, when Shego had thankfully forgotten the asian woman and basked in that intimacy that Kim provided. The feel of her skin, the image of the redhead tossing her head back in ecstasy... the sound of her voice--

"Fuck." Shego swore to the empty room.

* * *

"Tired?" Kim asked the brunette curiously. There were dark circles under Shego's eyes, and Kim could see the other woman's exhaustion no matter how well Shego thought she hid it.

"No." Shego lied. It was the end of the day, dinner was a simple affair of rice, several vegetable dishes and a meat dish. Shego's pale skin made the circles under her eyes stand out in stark relief.

'You totally need to stop with the false bravado act. Its getting old.' Kim thought and cleared her throat. "Fine, then I'm thinking you can continue our lesson from last night?" When Shego opened her mouth to refuse, Kim cut her off before Shego could utter a word. "Unless, of course, you're really tired. Then I understand."

Shego cursed her pride and Kim Possible and tried not to let her agitation show. "Sure. After the dishes are done."

"Of course." Kim smiled innocently and went back to her meal.

Unless you're really tired. Then I understand. I know what you're doing.' Shego mimed the teenaged heroine's voice in her head, her thoughts were dark as she viciously stabbed at a vegetable with her chopsticks. Her sharp drop in mood wasn't lost on Kim, who watched the grumpy woman thoughtfully for a while before continuing her meal.

Shego hadn't slept the night before. Every attempt at meditating had been met with her imagination's extremely realistic rendering of a very sweaty, very loud and VERY sexy version of Kim Possible. It had driven her crazy. Masturbating had crossed her mind, but she had felt so incredibly mortified at the thought. It was the same as giving up! And she prided herself on being able to find a sexual partner for that kind of need or to do without if there was none in sight. She would do without. Shego remembered a lot of times when she had to do without. like when Drakken decided to build an ice fortress in the middle of nowhere Antartica. Even though she had felt the urge many times before, it had never been this strong... Meditation hadn't been possible, so Shego had done sit-ups, lunges and push-ups the entire night, trying to wear herself down.

"Hey. Are you paying attention?" Kim asked. She was holding out a workbook and pointing to a certain character in the book. Everything was starting to blurr together because of her lack of sleep, and Shego blinked her eyes quickly to try and clear the haze and explained the word to Kim with much slurring. Though Kim wanted to torture Shego a little bit, the redhead didn't want the sleep-deprived woman to suffer that much. For Shego, it was a battle just to keep awake.

'Didn't she get any sleep last night?' Kim thought in amusement and decided to keep any questions to herself as she watched Shego doze off. Kim spent a good half-a-candle, which marked two hours, working while Shego slept the entire time. When her hand started cramping up from the rows upon rows of characters she had to write, she put down her brush and looked over at the sleeping Shego.

"Shego?" Kim whispered, a feeling of tenderness welling up inside of her. The woman didn't wake up. Her head was pillowed by her arms on the table. Shego must be exhausted. Kim left her spot to creep over to Shego's side, holding her breath. Leaning in close, she wrapped her arms around Shego from behind, letting out a sigh of contentment. Human contact. Such a simple thing that so many people take for granted. Shego didn't wake up, which wasn't a surprise at all. The girl was dead tired.

'Might get a stiff neck in the morning if you don't sleep right.' Keeping an arm around the back of Shego's neck, Kim gently tipped the woman backwards, then quickly hoisted her up into her arms by hooking her other arm underneath Shego's knees. Quickly transferring the comatose girl onto her bed, Kim breathed a sigh of relief when Shego only shifted a bit, muttered in her sleep, and continued sleeping. Rather sneakily, Kim crawled under the covers with Shego after blowing out the candles and snuggled up against Shego. To her delight, the sleeping Shego wrapped her arms around Kim, grumbling sleepily and unaware of her actions. Pressed up against Shego's sweet smelling neck, Kim took a risk and planted a soft kiss underneath Shego's jaw. Today had been a long day and Kim could feel sleep stealing over her. In the safety of Shego's arms, Kim guiltily ran a hand up the back of Shego's shirt, revelling in the feel of smooth, warm skin.

'Whatever. I'll deal with the repercussions in the morning.' Kim had only closed her eyes for a few seconds before they shot open again. 'I am a dirty old man!'

* * *

The sun peeked through the doors to illuminate the two girls, tangled together, behind gossamer mosquito nets. They had both slept through dawn, well into the morning.

'What the HELL.' Was Shego's first thoughts as she woke up and immediately froze when she felt two arms grip her tighter and the wandering hands of both of those arms pressing gently against Shego's back in a bid to keep her there. 'Okay... okay, chill, Shego. Think... think... WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!'

What was going on was that both girls had fallen asleep in each others' arms. They had both moved a bit in their sleep, which resulted in the position they were in now: Shego had ended up slightly on top of Kim, one hand curving underneath Kim's shoulder to keep her close to her, the other haphazardly splayed out while her legs were twined together with Kim's. Kim, meanwhile, had ended up slipping both hands under Shego's shirt during the night.

Kim shifted and made a small sound of pleasure, in that happy place between wakefulness and dreamland. And hearing that noise, Shego scrambled away, her blood pounding and face hot as Kim woke up quickly at the sudden hurried movement.

"What... Shego." Kim sighed and flopped back on the bed. In the morning, with her hair messy and framing her beautiful face, the look of exasperation was so endearing. "Good morning to you too."

"Good... good morning." Shego greeted warily. What had happened last night? Did she? Oh god... but they still had their clothes on. So what had happened last night? The last thing she remembered was answering a question for Kim. "What happened last night?"

Kim laughed, the morning making her voice rough. "You fell asleep. I carried you to bed. I fell asleep." Kim tossed aside the covers. "And since this was my bed, I decided to sleep here too. Do you know you move around a lot at night? I think the entire left side of my body is asleep..."

Shego opened and closed her mouth, no words coming out. She was... speechless. In that time, Kim took her time gathering her day clothes, then proceeded to head towards the bath.

"Make us breakfast, hun?" Kim pecked a kiss on the side of Shego's face and gave a sly pat/squeeze of the green-eyed villain's perky bottom. Kim just made it out the door before Shego exploded.

"WHO DO YOU THINK I AM! YOUR CONCUBINE!" Shego bellowed, choosing to resort to the easiest solution to this predicament: anger. She stormed after Kim who was running away as fast as she could from the furious Shego, laughing hysterically. They pounded on the wooden walkways and over a small bridge in the middle of the courtyard, sending a school of carps that had been swimming in the stream directly underneath the bridge, shooting out of their hiding place in fright. "I OUGHTTA KICK YOUR ASS, KIMMIE!"

* * *

endnote: Took a while for me to update, huh? Well, this is for all of you waiting so patiently. I'd like to give a shoutout to my fans at adultfanfiction dot net. It seems like I just ignore every other website and concentrate on fanfiction dot net. But that's not true. I got much love for you babies up in the AFF! Especially tallybeoulve who gave me a whole page of review. Lol. Thank you.

A note regarding the Chinese used in this fic: Its two dialects. One Cantonese that is used mainly in Hong Kong, which is why some of you won't be able to translate it using a web translator. Cheung, Ting Ting and some times Shego would be the ones using Cantonese. Everybody else including Kim would be using Mandarin which is sorta basically what Mainlanders use. There are a whole buncha different dialects for different areas in China, but that's just getting way too confusing, so I didn't do any of that. And for some of you who have been complaining about not understanding the Chinese... tough. lol. j/k. I'm prolly gonna put notes for you guys end of this series to explain to you.

Thank you y'all for reading!


	19. Xaio Qing

Xaio Qing

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M.

The much anticipated appearance of Shego's master. OO DUN DUNDUN!

* * *

Shego, dressed in a green and black silk cheongsam paced the audience room. Her hair was still wet and Shego had slicked it back into a ponytail. Besides that, she had made herself presentable in record time. 

She had a dream last night.

Before coming here to China, Shego would've disregarded any dreams that she might have had as just that: dreams. But not anymore. Here, she was shown dreams were more than dreams, people were more than they appeared to be and magic was real.

She had a dream...

A snake slowly stirred in a dark, dry and warm cavern on top of Er Mei. The sound of dripping water, the smell of moisture in the air making it open its eyes lazily. Shego dreamt, experienced this dream like she was part of the snake. It was both awe-inspiring and frightening. To be stretched out and injected into a powerful sinewy body that was beyond her control, to feel their coils dryly scraping against each other gave her a heady taste of power. She was huge. Massive, even.

"Sheeeego." Her name sounded like they were being slowly pulled out of the snake's mouth, every syllable reminding Shego of taffy candy being stretched out slowly. There was a tiny opening, not big enough for a serpent of her size, but Shego could sense... eagerness and laughter. The snake moved sluggishly to the small hole and forced its head into the hole. Miraculously, the body seemed to pour out of that small hole, and Shego could feel herself being squeezed and molded into a whole different form. Unable to control it, Shego cried out at the unfamiliar feeling of her body compressing and morphing, mistakening that curious feeling for pain.

"Be not afraid," The silken voice soothed her fears, and Shego felt ashamed. This had happened once before. She should not have cried out.

"I love you," The simple statement reverberated with how unconditionally this being gave of herself to Shego. "I love you..."

A woman squeezed out of the cavern entrance, shedding off her true form into one that was familiar to Shego. And in the far distance, Shego, looking out from this woman's eyes, could see the house that she and Kim lived in. It was night-time, but the sky was graying with the first light of dawn.

Shego had bolted awake when Xaio Qing started her first step towards the sprawling estate.

"Get up," Shego cringed at the sight of Kim, asleep practically on her lap. They had a late night of reading, and Shego had fallen asleep reading on Kim's bed while Kim had been doing her assigned rows of characters. That had happened more and more often. It was like school. Contrary to popular belief, Shego had gone. Whether she was conscious during school was a whole different matter. When subjects bored her and the teacher wasn't interesting, the pale-skinned woman would fall asleep. And the studying sessions with Kim had been like that. At first Shego had no problem staying awake and alert through the whole time Kim studied because Kim constantly needed correcting. But as time went by, Kim needed less and less help, so troubled Shego less. So when she had nothing to do, Shego would fall asleep wherever she was. This tendency to doze off when she was bored, Shego found out recently, still applied. Among other things she found out was that Kim had a tendency to try and curl up next to her whenever Shego inadvertantly slept over.

"If I fall asleep in your room, I want you to wake me up." Shego had said after the third time she'd fallen asleep in Kim's room. "I'll go back to my own room."

"I don't mind." Kim had said sweetly. "We can share the bed."

Shego had been struck speechless a lot lately by some of the things Kim would say and do. But even more alarming was the fact that Shego was starting to get a bit too comfortable with Kim. Something she realized was entirely bad. Maybe it had to do also with the fact that Kim was fast approaching that level that Shego was at in physical prowess. Being able to keep up with Shego more and more now did wonders for Kim's confidence. And also gave her courage to push the boundaries Shego set up regarding their interaction.

"Sun's not even up," Kim said grumpily. It was extremely cute... it was also extremely not the time to appreciate that fact.

"Okay, you know what? Get up." It was time Shego put her foot down. She had to take a quick bath... maybe the minerals in the natural spring that welled up in the baths would cover Kim's scent on her... "Xaio Qing is coming down right now, you have to get dressed. We have to be ready for her or else she'll be pissed."

That sent Kim scurrying out of bed. Shego appreciated her speed, and left the room in a hurry, sprinting to the baths and practically ripping her clothes off and throwing them to the side. There was only time for a quick dip.

Kim, meanwhile, was brushing her hair quickly, a grim look on her face. She remembered that night when she had tended to a fevered and delirious Shego. After much cajoling, Shego had finally divulged her attacker's identity with a warning: Xaio Qing was not very patient. And Shego had pushed her master's patience to the limit that night. It surprised Kim that Shego admitted she was at fault and Xaio Qing only reacted accordingly, it didn't lessen the outrage Kim felt at Shego's hurts. The fact that maybe Shego might have deserved the hurts she got... just refused to register in Kim's mind.

The both of them had gotten ready in record time and waited in the audience portion of the house that faced the front gates.

"Are you sure she's coming?" Kim asked. Shego nodded, distracted. Xaio Qing was close. She suddenly looked at Kim and frowned.

"Couldn't you have worn something more... formal?" Shego scrunched up her nose in displeasure. Kim felt stung by the criticism. She had thought what she was wearing was semi-formal! It was the best she could do with her limited choices, since all of her clothes were one form or another of exercise-wear. She had thought she had made do quite well.

"Okay, forget about that." Shego winced as she suddenly realized it was basically her fault that Kim had nothing more than a utilitarian wardrobe. "Okay, I didn't think she'd be coming here this early, so I need you to remember these basic rules: if Xaio Qing tells you to do something, you do it. Don't be mouthy." Shego held up her hand to stop any protests that Kim was about to make. "You're mouthy. Deal with it. Everyone has their faults."

"What are your faults, then?"

"My faults are I have none."

"Cocky."

"Why thank you." Shego flashed Kim a grin. "And get along with her, okay?"

The heavy front doors flew open suddenly with a resounding boom. There was no-one there at first. Then, from the side, a figure walked to the middle of the entrance, completely naked. She was maginificent. That was the only word to describe it. Her skin was the colour of snow, and hair as black as ink that, in the light, sometimes seemed like it had a rich undertone of green.

"Master," Shego looked around and quickly grabbed one of the silken curtains of the audience room and ripped it from its place. Hurrying to the woman, Shego immediately wrapped the cloth around the woman's shoulders to cover her nakedness and envelope her in a welcoming hug. Kim noticed that none of the usual morning birds were singing, the entire area dead quiet, quiet enough for her to hear Shego and Xaio Qing's exchange.

"Welcome back." Shego's voice had taken on a tone of reverence and respect, which was extremely odd to Kim. She had never heard Shego speak like that. Kim felt a sharp stab of jealousy as Shego enfolded the woman into her arms posessively.

"I'm home." Xaio Qing's voice had a resonance to it that was oddly relaxing. Kim felt oddly lethargic as those sharp green eyes, a different green from Shego's or her own's, caught her in their gaze. Kim could see those delicate nostrils flare a bit, as if she was taking a deep breath, trying to pick up a scent...

"Kim..." Shego's voice sounded so far away. Kim vaguely noted the panicked tone in her voice as the villainess turned around and seemed to run towards her in slow motion.

'I'm... falling...' were Kim's last thoughts as she fainted.

* * *

"Wake up." Kim was vaguely aware of a warm hand stroking her forehead. "Wake up, young one." 

Kim was lying in her room, unconscious. She made a valiant attempt to open her eyes, and managed to make out a blurred figure smiling kindly at her. "You will be alright. You are just not used to my presence yet."

Kim tried to reply, but trying was so hard, she just wanted to sleep. Kim fell back into unconsciousness.

"Well, at least she is strong." Xaio Qing looked at the comatose girl in amusement, then looked over her shoulder at Shego. "Though, of course, not as strong as you."

"Please, master." Shego replied drolly. "You flatter me."

Xaio Qing smiled and turned back to Kim, leaning close to smell her. Shego stiffened, fearful anticipation filling her as she watched Xaio Qing turn and clutch a handful of sheets, holding them up to her nose. Xaio Qing might not smell Kim's scent on Shego because she had changed her clothes and washed... but she sure as hell can smell Shego on Kim. The dark-tressed villain cursed her oversight.

"I don't even have to... hold these that close to my nose... to smell you on them." Xaio Qing's voice was deceptively engaging and light. Shego knew better than that. "This... Kim Possible smells like you. Why is that... Shego?"

"I fell asleep here last night, master. I was teaching her Chinese." Shego said carefully. "Since I was in her bed, she decided it wasn't fair that she sleep on the floor and slept there with me."

Xaio Qing raised an eyebrow at Shego's slow, careful explanation. "Well... you're certainly a conscientious teacher. Remind me not to come to you when I want to learn something." The sheets were tossed aside and forgotten, the explanation accepted... for now. Even in human form, Xaio Qing's excellent sense of smell carried over. That meant that she could distinguish between the smells of two people sleeping together in a bed and two people having sex in a bed. Shego thanked god that the last time Shego and Kim had been together like that, Xaio Qing had already been feeling the beginnings of the lethargy that winter brought on and had ceased visiting Shego.

Shego watched Xaio Qing's inspection of Kim, like a parent supervising a child playing with a small animal: the child in its carelessness, could easily break the animal.

"She is pretty," Xaio Qing smiled and stroked Kim's face. "And her hair colour is interesting. Is it not, Shego?" Xaio Qing's fingers ran through the young heroine's red hair. They spent several seconds like this, watching the sleeping woman.

"How was your hibernation?" Shego sat down next to Xaio Qing.

"I had good dreams." Xaio Qing laughed lightly. "But my dreams are just dreams. Let us not waste time." Xaio Qing gave Shego a watery smile. "The day is long, and she will sleep until night. Come with me and help me finish my tapestry."

Shego tried to keep her face passive, but she felt the overwhelming desire to flee as a soul-weary depression and horror settled on her shoulders. Shego was proud, though. Proud to the last grain of her being and she did not plead, did not beg, did not grovel though she wanted to scream for mercy.

'How much would you give up...'

Squaring her shoulders, Shego followed after Xaio Qing, towards the dining room where the unfinished tapestry was kept.

"Come here." Xaio Qing sat on the raised dias. Shego took off her cheongsam, so now she was only garbed in a simple thin white t-shirt. Walking to the dias, she sat, her back facing Xaio Qing.

Hands slipped from the back of her neck to her front, running along the front of Shego's shirt. Sitting there, her spine ramrod straight, Shego couldn't help trembling as those hands slipped inside her shirt and slowly tore outwards. The cloth ripped easily down the middle, the shirt ruined and discarded to the side. Fingers trailed down her back.

"Are you ready?" the question was growled. Shego knew even if she said she wasn't, it would still happen. Hands probed her back experimentally. Then suddenly, it felt like something dug into her back. Sharp, hot, cold and above all, excrutiatingly painful.

An arm caught her around the waist before Shego could try to squirm away. The grip around her waist was iron and no matter how much she tried, she couldn't escape it. Curled around that arm, she howled out her agony. Her entire body spasmed as the pain dulled. Then, she felt some part of her rip inside and a new pain blossomed. Where her screams had died down to shuddering sobs, her cries renewed again.

"What I gave to you," Xaio Qing's face, if Shego had been able to see it, had changed and morphed into a terrifying mask that looked nothing like the beautiful woman that had walked through the entrance of the house in the morning. "I take back."

Shego felt that excrutiating pulling again... opened her mouth as another scream was ripped from her throat.

* * *

Kim woke up to the sound of... music. It didn't register at first, that slow lazy sound, that was indescribable. That was what drew her out of her sleep. For the first time ever, Kim awoke to the sight of the setting sun, peeking in through her window, bathing everything in a magnificent orage-red glow. The sounds followed delicately one after the other, each note quivering and fragile. 

'Is that a... string instrument?' Kim sat up in bed and swung her feet to the ground slowly. It had been so long since she had heard music! Another thing about being cut off from society and having little to no modern technology was the lack of music. And this foreign sound entranced her. She had never heard anything like it, like when she had first heard the strange er-hu at Fong and Cheung's wedding celebration. The tone of this instrument was deep and resonant.

'Who?' Was Kim's first thoughts. Of all the time she spent here, she knew that Shego did not play an instrument. But if she did, it coincided with the arrival of-- 'Xaio Qing.' It was strange for Kim to even think of someone else being here besides herself and Shego. They had been alone for such a long time. Rising unsteadily, she still felt slightly light-headed. What had happened? All she knew was that she had looked at Xaio Qing and felt overwhelmed. That was the only word to describe it. Overwhelmed. And now as she opened the door, that quiet power hit her again with the force of an invisible wind. Kim was at least prepared for this onslaught of raw energy and had braced herself unconsciously. She walked out, tottering and sweating from the effort, seeking the source of the music she heard. It was coming from a little room/pavilion that was seldom used that looked out onto the garden at the center of the courtyard. Though it was seldom used, Kim always got a sense that it was a space that usually got a lot of attention, just by the way it was placed. It was on a higher level of ground, seemingly overlooking the garden and at a glance, one could tell it was one of many focal points in the design of the house.

There, Kim could see, was Xaio Qing, playing a flat wooden stringed instrument. Those brilliant eyes were watching her, and a tiny smile pulled up one side of Xaio Qing's mouth.

"Good morning," Xaio Qing greeted cheerfully, her voice soft and clear. Wearing significantly more than what she had been wearing before, she was resplendant in a white gown,

Kim grinned sheepishly, making her way slowly to stand in front of Xaio Qing's window to the garden. "Good evening." She glanced around the courtyard. "Where's Shego?"

"She is resting," Xaio Qing said casually, as she continued playing the musical instrument in front of her. Kim watched with interest. Strings were strung across its wooden length, that had been lovingly and intricately crafted. Slim wooden pieces were wedged against board and strings, and Kim watched, transfixed as Xaio Qing seemed to effortlessly coax a delicate, folky music out of her instrument. The music sometimes made the air vibrate in a low bass, then swoop up to a pleasant high-pitched melody.

"That's really good." Kim tilted her head to one side. "What kind of instrument is that?"

A waterfall of notes made Kim sway a bit to that divine sound as Xaio Qing answered. "This is a guzheng."

She found it hard to concentrate on anything else besides that light, tripping music--

The sound of a door slamming shook Kim out of her daze, and she looked up to see Shego leaning heavily against her room door, face strained and paler than normal.

"Master."

"You are awake, Shego?" Xaio Qing's fingers stopped their delicate plucking of the strings. Immediately, the fog that had enshrouded Kim's mind lifted.

"Your music woke me up." Shego growled and pushed off her resting spot. "Its almost night-time, I should get dinner ready."

"I have already prepared dinner." Xaio Qing smiled. "Come. I was waiting for the two of you to wake up."

Xaio Qing, in the day that she had arrived, managed to put on the airs of a benevolent hostess. She acted as if Kim hadn't been living in the house for almost a year and ordering Shego around. It was even more surprising to see Shego do everything she was told to do with little to no complaint.

"Could you get me some more rice, Shego?" Xaio Qing asked politely. Shego had risen from her spot, unable to hide the wince of pain that the movement brought. When Kim moved to stand and help, Shego shot her a look that obviously warned her against doing anything, and left the room quietly.

"I am sorry I did not come and meet you as soon as you came." Xaio Qing suddenly said. "Well, I did but not while you were conscious so I do not think you would remember. You were fast asleep that first night..."

Kim nodded politely, not knowing what to say to that, feeling slightly uncomfortable alone with Xaio Qing. The woman sat on top of the raised dias, in front of the screen that still had a discreet white sheet covering it.

"You have enjoyed your stay here?" Xaio Qing continued, seemingly intent on starting a conversation with Kim.

"Yes," Kim answered honestly. Despite Shego's sometimes distant attitude, after they had straightened out their differences, it was nice.

"Shego is the defining factor, of course." Xaio Qing laughed then her expression turned thoughtful. "I have been trying to get her to change her attitude, but she thinks that she is perfect the way she is. She is a very astute student." Now Xaio Qing directed her thoughtful gaze at Kim. "Tell me Kim... do you think you will be able to learn as quickly as my Shego has? She has said that you are skilled."

"Extremely skilled." Shego said quietly, entering the room with a small wooden tub of rice. A feast had been laid out for them, and though Kim and Shego hadn't held themselves back, there was still enough left to feed twenty people easily. While Kim and Shego had eaten their fill a long time ago and were now just picking at the dessert, mango pudding and fruits, Xaio Qing was demolishing the leftover food steadily. It was almost frightening. Kim didn't know where all that food went to!

"Kim, you should go to bed now. Tomorrow you will do the exercises I hear Shego has given you." Xaio Qing waved her hand at Kim dismissively. "I will see you when you are ready."

"I'll walk her to her room." Shego got up and followed Kim out the door. As soon as they were outside, Shego took a deep shuddering breath.

"Are you alright?" Kim asked worriedly. Shego smiled at Kim in a silent assurance and they walked the distance to Kim's room without speaking, and Kim sensed this miasma of depression around the villainess. Only when they got to Kim's door did Shego say something.

"I'm fine. Just..." Shego stood there for a few seconds, obviously trying to say something.

"Yes?" Kim encouraged.

Shego's hand shot out to catch Kim's and squeezed it once, before letting go. "Nothing. Good night, Kimmie."

Kim stood there, a bit shocked at Shego's touch.

'What's going on?' Kim watched Shego go back into the dining room and close the door behind her. Kim stood there for a few more seconds before she entered her room. Shego hardly ever voluntarily touched her anymore. Nothing as blatant as this. Shego didn't initiate touching. Was something wrong?

"Maybe.." Kim put one hand on the door, when suddenly she could hear music. The guzheng's melody started suddenly, the notes jumping from one to the next in a crazed song that was both jarring and harmonious all at once.

"Maybe... after tonight..." Kim's mind had suddenly clouded over with sleep. She barely made it to her bed before she fell asleep.

* * *

Shego had watched wearily as Xaio Qing consume the remaining food. Her back still throbbed horribly, but she'd be okay by tomorrow. After Xaio Qing had polished off dessert, she had suggested that they stargaze. Stargazing was always something Shego and Xaio Qing both loved to do together. So now they sat on the roof, head tilted back to look at the stars. 

"Do you remember that star?" Shego pointed to the north star, smirking a bit.

"The Shego Star?"

"Named after me."

Xaio Qing laughed lightly. "I've missed you, Shego."

Shego responded truthfully. "I've missed you, too. Really."

Their relationship was a strange one. Though Xaio Qing obviously commanded respect from Shego, their relationship was almost that of very close friends. Or older sister and younger sister, where that title would change in different settings. In training, Shego looked up to Xaio Qing for guidance. But for companionship Xaio Qing relied on Shego heavily.

"How is Fong?" Xaio Qing could feel Shego's body bunch up, could feel her agitation. Softly, she asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. And... Fong is fine." Shego said carefully. "We... haven't talked very much. And for winter, I stayed here most of the time with Kim."

"Ah." Shego didn't miss the pleased tone in Xaio Qing's voice. "Marriage has taken up a lot of her time, hm?"

"Its better for the both of us," Shego tried to force herself to relax. But it was still a sore point. Especially since Xaio Qing seemed to derive malicious joy from the fact that Shego and Fong were no longer... dealing with each other. "Cheung's a good husband."

"You should not have wasted your time on her. She doesn't love you." Xaio Qing said nastily, her sweet voice dripped with venom. Shego unconsciously tightened her grip on Xaio Qing.

"Don't, Xaio Qing..." Shego shuddered as she felt something just underneath Xaio Qing's skin... ripple. As if, something crawled just beneath the surface.

"Shego..." Xaio Qing's voice was strained. But there again was that sweetness Shego was used to. An apologetic note in that sweet voice, a tinge of regret. "Shego. I... I feel tired."

"You ate a lot." Shego joked weakly. "Come on. We'll go to sleep."

* * *

Endnote: So, how do you like Xaio Qing? She's sorta still in development... 


	20. Misconceptions and Confrontations

Misconceptions and Confrontations

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M.

Do you guys notice my title chapters? Do they match my story? lol. I have trouble naming my chapters. Shoulda just been like... Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, etc...

Oh, and for the people who are like 'what the hell is this legend of lady white snake legend?'. http/ My fanfic modifies the legend a bit. And there are several different interpretations of this story, so you might get Xaio Qing blue/green/black snake/carp. But otherwise, you sorta get the gist of it. Hope it helps you guys figure it out a bit. Oh, and I take a lot of my inspiration from Tsui Hark's movie 'Green Snake'. It wasn't the best movie in the world (give it a break, guys. It was done in 1993 in HK), but that was what gave me direction on 'a few new tricks'.

* * *

"Very good!" Xaio Qing clapped excitedly and let out a peal of delighted laughter. Shego had a look of surprise on her face as she regarded Kim with a new respect. Kim smirked as the two combatants stood locked together. In the year she had been here, she had worked almost every day to catch up to Shego. For a year and some... Kim gathered. She had come to Er Mei late spring/early summer. It was fast approaching fall, and the hot warm days were coupled by cooler nights, signifying fall's approach.

"Thanks," Kim grunted as she quickly avoided a kick from Shego. The only hint to how Shego felt about this new development was the wide grin on her face. At the one year mark, Shego had stopped holding herself back and pushed Kim brutally. But the redhead kept up. Shego watched Kim's relaxed stance, and though she would never say it out loud, she was so proud of Kim. Any other person would have broken at the pace that Shego set, but no, not Kim.

'I chose the right person,' Shego's breath came out in short puffs, reveling in the feeling of having to push herself, of Kim now helping her re-invent herself, make her better. Their attacks were fast, brutal to any passersby. Their fighting from before had been child's play compared to this. The force of one of their blows, plus the speed with which it hurtled at someone, could very easily crush someone's skull. But so many times, absorbing each other's blows had made their bodies hard and ready to take the damage.

Once again, a move Shego executed was successfully stopped and countered by Kim. Shego was even more surprised when an elbow slammed her in the side. She quickly tucked and rolled away, disengaging from Kim to launch herself back when Xaio Qing called out.

"Stop, stop!" Xaio Qing ran to Kim and threw herself onto the young woman who caught her readily. "You did it!"

The two woman jumped around hugging each other and squealing with glee while Shego watched them from a distance away, nursing her very likely bruised rib. The months together had knit the three of them closer, more Kim and Xaio Qing then any other combination. Xaio Qing was extremely playful and curious and loved following Kim around. Like most of the villagers, Xaio Qing had a fascination with Kim's hair and would use every excuse she could to touch Kim. Which Kim didn't mind at all. The hugs, the charming affection that Xaio Qing lavished her with was something she appreciated.

"Please, she hasn't beaten me yet!" Shego was happy for Kim, but her pride wouldn't let her admit defeat.

"Shego... come on," Xaio Qing still had her arms around Kim's neck. "Congratulations are in order!"

Shego just grumbled, but her face had broken into a smile. She straightened up and tried not to wince. Walking over to Kim, she patted the woman on the back briefly. "Good job, Kimmie, you're finally up to speed."

Kim scoffed. "Please. So not the drama." Inside, her spirit soared at the compliment and the congratulatory pat on the back. It was nothing, but it was something. Ever since Xaio Qing had come, Shego had put on an air of formality around her and kept Kim at arms' length. Not as isolating as before, but their conversations were so... stilted. Shego never stayed too late for lessons either, because Xaio Qing was always there. Whenever the snake demoness got tired, she would require Shego to leave with her. Since Xaio Qing arrived, Shego had practically moved into Xaio Qing's room. And that bothered Kim. Just... thinking about them sleeping together.

Xaio Qing was welcome... but Kim wanted Shego to relax, to talk to her again before Xaio Qing came. To stay in her room. To hold her hand and guide her writing. To fall asleep there in her room. Kim wanted Shego.

"Shego, you're not hurt, are you?" Xaio Qing reached out and took Shego's hand in her own in anxious worry.

"No, not much." Shego pressed a hand against her side. "I'm gonna bruise tomorrow for sure, though."

"Come, let us see to that." Xaio Qing let go of Kim, giving her an apologetic smile before grabbing Shego's hand and pulling her towards the house. The triumph Kim felt before was dulled by the jealousy she was feeling. Kim liked Xaio Qing. But she liked Shego even more. Following the duo in front of her, she seethed just a bit as Xaio Qing coddled Shego. The redhead was less annoyed at Xaio Qing actually, and more annoyed with Shego. The green-eyed woman was allowing the coddling!

'If I oo'd and ah'd over her, she would kick my ass.' Kim sulked.

Jealousy was never good. And with that jealousy came guilt. Xaio Qing had been nothing but nice to her. She shouldn't but having these thoughts!

'But I can't help it...' Kim thought glumly. Unnoticed by Kim, Shego had glanced back and seen the crestfallen look on Kim's face.

* * *

"Tomorrow morning, first thing, Shego will walk you down Er Mei. Cheung will be waiting to bring you back to She Cun." Xaio Qing announced at dinner. This had been happening for a while, since Xaio Qing came. Every full moon, Xaio Qing wanted 'alone time' with Shego. The first time Xaio Qing had requested this, Kim had thought she had sensed Shego's... relunctance in staying alone with Xaio Qing. She had thought it was just in her head... but coming back after the first time, Shego had been bedridden for days, and when she did come out of her room, she was visibly sick. Every full moon it happened, and Kim was a little bit worried.

"Don't ask." Shego had growled when Kim tried to. "Its none of your business and she's not hurting me."

"Maybe... I should stay." Kim offered. "I won't be a bother--"

"No, its alright." Xaio Qing said lightly, though there was steel in her voice. "You will go to She Cun." Xaio Qing's face broke into a smile. "Besides, you must get sick of seeing just the two of us all the time. Especially Shego here."

'No, actually, I don't see her enough.' Kim felt her heart constrict painfully when she looked up and saw Shego staring at her. Kim had so many questions to ask, but she knew to keep her mouth shut. Looking down at her food morosely, she looked up again and Shego was no longer looking at her but attentively listening to Xaio Qing. With three people here, it was less lonely some times. But with three people here, one of them had to be the third wheel. And Kim constantly felt like the third wheel.

* * *

They walked in silence down the steps. Xaio Qing had started sleeping later than usual, so it was just Shego and Kim. Kim had woken up in a bad mood. Some nights, the Shego/Xaio Qing thing would bother her to no end. When Kim tried to ask Xaio Qing about their relationship, the demoness would just smile and give very vague answers like, "We're really close", which really did nothing to explain the relationship Xaio Qing and Shego shared. Really close in what way? As friends? As lovers? What? Asking Shego, of course, would amount to nothing so Kim just didn't even see Shego as a source for information. Kim had pondered the strange relationship Xaio Qing and Shego seemed to have. There were some times when they were so close Kim could swear they were lovers. There were other times, though, when Shego seemed to want to get away from Xaio Qing. There was nothing really solid... sure, Xaio Qing was unnecessarily affectionate, and Shego bore it well... but Xaio Qing was also unnecessarily affectionate with Kim too...

"Okay, what's wrong?" Shego snapped after fifteen minutes of silence. Shego's good morning had been met by an uncommon grunt from Kim. Shego's tries at conversations were left hanging, and Kim's attitude just frustrated the hell out of Shego. "Something's obviously wrong, so you might as well tell me!"

"Nothing's wrong." Kim lied.

Shego snorted in disbelief. "Bull. Don't make me guess, Kim, you know I hate that."

"Maybe I don't know you that well!" Kim snapped right back. "If you hate being with me so much, you don't have to walk me down, go back to Xaio Qing!"

"What!" Shego's steps halted, then started again to catch up to Kim. "You, what the hell is wrong--" The answer to her question suddenly occurred to Shego. She remembered how many times Kim had been casting melancholy glances at Xaio Qing whenever Shego had been with the snake demoness. "You. You're jealous?"

"I'm not!" Kim's face reddened and she quickened her steps.

"Well you have nothing to be jealous about," Shego scowled. "I'm actually glad you're so attached to Xaio Qing."

It was Kim's time to suddenly stop. "What?"

"Are you a lesbian?" Shego asked suddenly.

"I--" The question caught Kim off-guard. "I, I don't know."

"Do you... like Xaio Qing?"

"W-what!" Kim sputtered.

"Okay, you don't have to tell me, I'm just trying to warn you in advance, okay?" Shego sighed and scratched the back of her head. "Xaio Qing doesn't swing that way."

"So, you mean you and her...?" Kim asked innocently.

"No." Shego shook her head and grinned. "That's what was upsetting you? I was worried."

"You were worried?" Kim slyly asked, catching that slip of tongue easily.

Shego blushed and stammered, "A-a little bit, okay. Just forget I said that, okay? Jeez!" Shego stormed ahead. Kim let Shego get a little ways ahead before running to catch up.

"So you're saying... she doesn't like you in that way?" Kim asked innocently.

"No!" Shego snapped at the inquisitve redhead.

"Howabout you? Do you like her in that way?"

"She's like a sister to me! I just haven't decided if she's like an older sister or a younger sister..." Shego mummbled the last part.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing."

"... so you're sure she doesn't swing that way?"

"I don't know." Shego shrugged. "I never bothered asking her that question."

"Why not?"

"Its not like I like her that way or anything!" Shego answered. "Why would I care? She's my master, what she does in her bedroom is her own business."

Kim stayed quiet for a while, extremely pleased at what Shego had revealed. "Well... you're always in her bedroom..."

"Kimmie!" Shego sighed in exasperation. "She... Xaio Qing has nightmares some times. And she likes it when someone is sleeping next to her."

"You care about her a lot," Kim watched Shego frown. "You know... I never see this side of you before. Back with Drakken and everyone. You were always so... cocky. And annoying." Kim started counting stuff off on her fingers. "Frustrating. Aggravating. Irritating. Unwanted."

"You're totally just saying the same thing but using different words." Shego said dryly. "And thanks. Thanks a lot for the list of 'what's wrong with Shego'."

"That was back then! You didn't let me finish!" Kim protested then continued when Shego motioned for to get on with it. "That was back then. But... I never knew you were good with kids... or did things that weren't--"

"Criminal?' Shego supplied helpfully.

"No. I was going to say, mean or bad. But thank you, that would totally do too." Kim said cheerily.

"Well, what did you expect from me, Kimmie?" Shego spread out her arms. "We're on different ends of the spectrum! I work for an evil blue-skinned still-to-be-proven genius! You go around saving the world with your sidekick and his pet rat-thing. Our career choices totally does not let us go out for lunch and chill on a regular basis."

"Why not stop?"

"Don't start with that," Shego growled. "Now you sound like my brothers." Shego's voice deepened dramatically to mock her brother, Hego. " 'You may be a smart-mouth, prone to excessive violence, but deep down, you're still a member of Team Go. A hero.' Jesus Christ," Shego's voice reverted back to normal. "Where the hell does he get this stuff? I swear to god he's got like, a billion more of those corny lines floating around in his brain somewhere. Idiot."

Kim, meanwhile, was too busy laughing at the impressive imitation of Hego. After that bout of laughter passed and she had wiped the tears from her eyes, she grinned at Shego.

"What?" Shego raised an eyebrow.

"Its just... been a while since we've done... this." Kim motion from Shego back to herself. "It seems like... you're holding yourself back when Xaio Qing is around. And I don't understand. Its like you don't want her to know that we're friends--"

"We're not friends." Shego said loudly, just as much to convince herself as to tell Kim. The hurt look that flashed across Kim's face made Shego feel a little guilty. "Okay. We're... situational friends. But. Okay, I just don't want to be too comfortable around you when we're with Xaio Qing." The walked along without talking for a while before Shego continued. "Remember that time when you came back and... I hurt my leg?"

Kim remembered that incident too well. She hadn't wanted to mention anything since Shego and Xaio Qing seemed alright with each other... "Yeah, I remember."

"Xaio Qing," Shego grimaced. "Is very jealous. She really doesn't like me getting close to anyone. She's afraid... I would leave her. We.. got into a fight that night. Not because of you." Shego reassured Kim and rubbed her arm, remembering the dark, remembered how horrible Xaio Qing's temper was. Remembered trying to run... remembered being pursued. "She thinks I'm all she has, and she knows... that some times her jealousy gets the better of her." Shego's voice took on a defensive edge. "She would never really hurt me."

"What do you define 'hurt' as? Because what I saw rated as 'hurt' to me."

"You know what? I don't need you looking out for me, so stop." Shego had come to the end of her patience. She had never told Kim this, but she was uncomfortable with the fact that Kim had seen her injured. It raised too many questions about Xaio Qing that Shego did not want to answer. "I'll be alright here and we just don't need you around right now, okay?"

Stung by Shego's cold words, Kim shot back sarcastically, "What you want some 'alone' time with Xaio Qing?" Raising her hands to make quote signs when she said the word 'alone'. Obviously implying something else.

"You should stop acting so desperate, you know?" Shego snarled. Their little hike had gotten ugly and Shego immediately regretted what she said at the furious look on Kim's face.

"Desperate?" Kim whispered. "Desperate? Okay... you are just--you're just such--"

"What?" Shego stuck out her chin, not knowing when to back down.

"Forget it. I'm not doing this with you. You're always picking fights and I'm sick of it." Kim threw up her hands. "You don't have to walk me. Cheung'll probably be at the base of the steps waiting for me. I'll see you in a few days."

Shego stood there and watched Kim go, holding herself back from running after her. From explaining herself. When did she ever explain herself? Why did she have to explain herself!

"Fine!" Shego hollered at Kim's retreating back.

"FINE!" Kim yelled back.

The trek back up to the house was a long one, but Xaio Qing hadn't woken up yet. Cutting through the garden, she entered Xaio Qing's warm room. In the center of the room was a huge round bed. Unlike the rooms in the rest of the house, which were nice in their own way, this room was grand. It was something straight out of Arabian Nights. The number of downy pillows around the floor, and eternally lit incense pots reminded Shego of what a harem would look like. Gold statues resided in the corners of the room, holding bronze braziers that would magically light up with white fire when the sky darkened outside. The Green Snake's room was spledorously decadent, rich in detail, and had an expensive bitter-sweet scent to it. Green eyes watched Shego sleepily as she closed the door. It was almost time for Xaio Qing's hibernation. She could stay maybe a month more before she had to go back into her cavern.

"I'm back." whispered Shego.

"Come to bed."

* * *

Upon arriving at the village, Cheung and Kim were both treated to the sound of fighting and the villagers swarming the area, some trying to run, some trying to find their loved ones, and still others fighting very familiar robe-garbed men. Monks.

"What--?"

"Monks!" Cheung slammed on the brakes and threw himself out of the car, a look of panic on his face. "Kim, I... Fong and Ting Ting, you're--"

"Lead the way!" Kim nodded to the young man. With an answering nod, Cheung ran into the village in the direction of his house, disappearing into the crowds with Kim following close on his heels through the confusion of people. She didn't get too far though, as a young monk stood in her way, a staff in his hands grimly pointed at her.

"I found her!" His shout brought one more monk quickly.

'Run...' Kim's first instinct was to do just what her inner voice was telling her, but her retreat was quickly blocked by two more monks. They had her surrounded. Since her option to flee was gone, the next option was to fight. But... she found that her limbs wouldn't respond to her command. Around her, the monks hadn't advanced at all, but had their eyes closed, muttering softly as their fingers worked the prayer beads that they each had in their hands. From each of them, Kim could see a glow...

"Kim, we meet again." From outside the circle that held her captive, a familiar face came into view and Nam Ho entered past the barrier that had been thrown up around the monks who did not pause in chanting their prayers.

'Run! Run!' That overwhelming desire to flee gripped Kim, but she couldn't move an inch, stood there caught in the grips of something she did not understand.

"What do you want?" The redhead was relieved that at least her ability to speak hadn't been taken away from her.

"For you to understand." Nam Ho sighed. "We will not hurt you. But if we didn't restrain you, I'm afraid, that you might hurt us."

"What do you want?" Kim repeated, her eyes narrowing. "Why are you here? Why are you attacking the village?"

"To get you." Nam Ho replied truthfully. "For you to understand that we are not the bad guys here. That we mean you no harm, but if you stay up in Er Mei, your life could be in danger." Nam Ho watched Kim's face, saw in it that she saw some truth in his words and smiled. "As you know yourself. When has associating with a giant snake demon ever been good for anybody?"

That struck something in Kim, and suddenly, it was as if Nam Ho had unstoppered something inside of her that had been plugged up before. Her suspicions of Xaio Qing suddenly amplified, her feelings of just... something WRONG with Xaio Qing heightened and made itself known while the voice that told her to flee was dashed to oblivion.

"Is that better?" Nam Ho asked gently. "Now... I will answer your questions. What we want to do is get you away from here. Now you can tell you have your own misgivings about the... thing that dwells on that mountain. I know of you, Kim Possible. Even enclosed in a monastary, we are not cut off from the world. You have been missing and your family wants you back. Do you want to go, Kim? We will take you back to your family. Several of my colleagues have even bumped into your brothers... do you not want to see them?"

"Jim and Tim?" Kim reeled from the news. She managed to croak out, "They're here? Really?"

"In a village a ways off from here. They are certain that you are in the near vicinity, and they are correct in that fact. They also bring along your friends, Ron and Monique." The abbot smiled at Kim kindly as tears suddenly started streaming out of her eyes. Finding that whatever force had been holding her from before had let go of her, she was brought to her knees by the emotions that were coursing through her.

"M-Monique?" Kim sniffled. "What is she doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? To find her friend. You." Nam Ho kneeled and helped her to her feet. "Come with us and we will take you away from here."

Kim was about to comply when she suddenly realized something. How did they know she was here? She was usually up in Er Mei and came to the village sporadically. Her new clarity demanded that she voice her curiosity. "How did you know I would be in the village today?"

"When you didn't come to meet me after a few months, I worried about you and had someone look you up." Nam Ho said mysteriously. "She's been keeping a close eye on you since the beginning, at great risk to herself."

"Why are you worried?" Kim pressed on. "What could have happened?"

"We don't know." Nam Ho admitted grudgingly. "But your presence here does not make sense at all. We don't know why Shego brought you here, but her reasons could not have been good--"

"Shego wouldn't hurt me." Kim said quickly.

Nam Ho shook his head, as if admonishing a child. "You don't know her."

The memory of the night Shego shared with Kim came unbidden to the young heroine. Of how Shego held her so tight and kissed her so softly. Of dark green eyes that regarded her with such a gentle expression. Of nights when Shego would carefully hold Kim's hand and help her work out an inky character while rebuking her for the mistake. Of the fights that Kim would have with Shego...

"No," Kim pulled away from Nam Ho's grip. "YOU don't know her. I know her. She would never hurt me. That's what you're implying, right? That Shego brought me here for some secret purpose, but the end result would be that I would get really hurt, so hurt that maybe I might die."

"There are worse things than death." Nam Ho said grimly. "Now come."

"No." Kim's sudden kick took out one of the young monks that had encircled her. Nam Ho didn't even get to land his punch as Kim quickly entangled him and slammed him up against the wall. She smirked inwardly. She had just done a move Shego had pulled on her long ago, a move that used the full length of one's body to suppress someone. "Why should I trust you? Why should I listen to you?"

"Because I'm trying to save you!" Nam Ho snarled, losing completely the hold he had on his temper.

"Save me from what!" Kim managed to continue her interrogation as she fended off attackers easily. No one could touch her now.

"Ask yourself this: Why does a snake stay here protecting a village! She is a demon! Her very nature says that she is up to no good! Have you ever thought of that! Who would stay here of their own accord! Something so powerful would not stay in this... this hole when they could be GREAT!"

Kim loosened her grip on Nam Ho, and he immediately twisted away from Kim.

"Were you unhappy here?" Kim asked simply.

Nam Ho picked up a staff from the body of an unconscious monk. They were the only two here that were still conscious. Nam Ho's followers must have lured the worst of the fighting away from Kim when they surrounded her. The two fighters circled each other cautiously.

"My master asked me... what good would I do here?" Nam Ho said quietly. "It was just like this... how he confronted me. We are chained here."

"The villagers aren't prisoners here--"

"They are." Nam Ho said sadly. "I came to... see my brother and his wife a while ago and I was met with such hostility. I had no choice but to fight back. They are chained to the ideal that what they are doing is honourable. Each generation is chained here by that ideal, to continue this servitude to this snake--"

"Servitude?"

"Servitude!" Nam Ho nodded his head. "We do not need protecting. We, humanity, have prevailed through centuries, overcoming obstacles by ourselves without the help of any others."

"By ourselves? Well, since you're a man of the cloth," Kim nodded to Nam Ho's robes. "What you're saying is kind of contradictory to your beliefs."

"God helps those who help themselves." Nam Ho quoted. "Humanity needs nought else but their own strength. This is ridiculous. I was exactly like you back then. Thinking up excuses. They don't even know that they're unhappy!"

"Just because you were unhappy here, doesn't mean everybody else is unhappy here." Kim argued, dodging a staff to the head. "And who are you to tell them anything?"

"This is beyond what I feel, yet its very personal." Nam Ho regarded Kim cautiously as she casually knocked aside another of his swings. "No good will come of associating yourself with Xaio Qing."

"She protects this village--"

"At what costs? And to whom? Have you ever thought of that?" Nam Ho asked calmly. "You don't understand anything."

"Then explain it to me!" Kim attacked now, watching, almost as if Nam Ho was moving in slow motion. Knowing exactly what he would be doing and re-acting accordingly. Slow. What she saw as slow, Nam Ho saw as incredibly fast. Too fast. And he could only struggle to protect himself as he was quickly put on the defensive, trying his hardest to avoid Kim, but finally could not dodge as several successful hits, followed up by two fists pounding into his chest at once sent him sprawling on the dirt gasping for air.

"Kim!"

Kim recognized Fong's voice in the distance. And the monks she had knocked out were coming to and picking themselves up. One of them helped Nam Ho to his feet, and they all heard the sound of lots of footsteps heading their way.

"Maybe there's no convincing you," Nam Ho gasped, gripping onto the man supporting him. "But I have done what I could and I have warned you. Be careful, Kim Possible. Though we part like this, I hope there are no hard feelings between us." Injured as he was, Nam Ho managed a short bow. "Would you... would you like me to pass a message on to your family and friends?"

"Tell them..." Kim caught her bottom lip between her teeth in thought. Sent a silent apology to her friends and family, she gave her answer. "Tell them nothing."

Kim knew if her brothers were set on doing something, they would not be deterred by anybody. If they were set on finding her, a monk telling them not to would not stop them. It would only cause them to search even harder for their sister. And Ron and Monique probably wouldn't be much different.

Kim watched Nam Ho leave and waited as Fong, Lo po-po and various others arrived at her side. Nam Ho was wrong about her. He probably thought Kim hadn't heard a word he was saying about how dangerous Xaio Qing is, was, or could be. She heard all of it. But one thing Kim refused to believe was that Shego would knowingly put her into as much danger as Nam Ho implied she was in. There was no way. And he didn't understand why she would never leave with him. If what he said was true about Xaio Qing, then Shego was in as much danger as she was. And Kim refused to leave Shego if that was indeed the case.

* * *

ending note:P that is all. 


	21. Guilt

Guilt

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M.

* * *

"There, you see?" Xaio Qing helped tuck a stray lock of Kim's hair behind the redhead's ear. "Now, listen closely and also watch my hands." Tapered fingers touched the guzheng's strings, eliciting a beautifully simplistic melody from it. "Now, you try."

Shego watched from her spot on the small bridge over the stream in the courtyard. With a small bucket in her hands, she would periodically dig her hand in, take out a small amount of fish pellets and throw it into the churning waters full of hungry carp. Since Kim had come back from the village, Xaio Qing had been paying extra attention to Kim. The snake demoness had sensed immediately when the monks had breached the barrier she had put up. She had watched all this with boredom, knowing that her elders would take care of it and didn't pay any mind to it. That was until she felt Kim's slumbering power suddenly surge as she tapped into that force that allowed her to act out against the monks.

'Well, well... she continues to surprise me,' Xaio Qing had thought lazily as she basked in the warmth of her room. Shego lay supine underneath her, in that state between sleep and wakefulness. Her breathing slow, almost nonexistant. Eyes stared straight ahead, unseeing. Xaio Qing smiled down at her favoured one. 'You are right, as always. I will take her.'

Unaware of Xaio Qing's inner thoughts, Shego lay there, barely breathing.

The tiny hairs on the back of Shego's neck and arms rose up as each note was plucked successfully, watching Kim hesitantly play each note. Though tremulous and obviously not as good as Xaio Qing's playing, the notes were right. As the last note hung tremulously in the air, Shego's trained eye could see a sliver of light that hung just in front of the guzheng, then shoot forward weakly towards Shego. Alarmed, Shego threw up a small magical shield that disappated as soon as the attack bounced off it and into the water. Shego's angry eyes met Xaio Qing's silently laughing ones.

"Is she not amazing?" Xaio Qing almost squealed and hugged Kim, who replied with a toothy grin. The redhead was blithely unaware that she had just cast her first offensive spell. "That was excellent!"

"Coulda been better," Shego snorted and dug her hands into the bucket of fish food. Looking down, it stunned Shego briefly when she saw the fish swarming in bloody water trying to eat the body of a carp--neatly cut in half. She looked up again to see Kim leaned over the guzheng, touching the strings and nodding as Xaio Qing answered Kim's questions thoroughly. Before, Xaio Qing would always have one eye on Shego, but now, her attention was all on Kim. Tonight, Shego knew, she would have to get things ready. Xaio Qing had already instructed her that this was to be. It was almost the full moon again... the last full moon that Xaio Qing would be able to stay at the house. The Green Snake had actually postponed her hibernation longer than usual...

Xaio Qing and Kim spent the entire day studying the guzheng until Shego called them for dinner. In the dining room, Kim was surprised to see a low oblong table had been set up in front of Xaio Qing's place on the raised dias. An incense pot had been set on the middle of the table and a flat bronze bowl in front of the pot. A bowl full of various fruits sat on one side of the incense pot and a plate of sweet steamed dumplings on the other side. Two red candles burned merrily on either end of the table. There was also a steaming pot of tea and a small cup next to it sitting nearby on the floor.

"Before we eat," Shego spoke quietly in formal Chinese. "Xaio Qing will accept you as her disciple. You will have the privilege of calling her your shi fu; your master. She has deemed you worthy. Before Xaio Qing leaves for the winter, she has asked me to conduct this ceremony to set your mind at ease. Your next lessons can only be taught by Xaio Qing, for though I am proficient in these arts, I lack the skills to teach. Therefore, when Xaio Qing awakens next spring, she will dedicate her time to you."

Xaio Qing had meanwhile, swept up onto her seat, looking like the cat who had just eaten the canary. She motioned graciously for Shego to continue the explanation.

"You will bow three times to your new shifu." Shego instructed. "For she demands your respect, loyalty and obedience. As a disciple, you owe this to her."

The redhead paused slightly and glanced at Shego in an unspoken question. Shego hesitated for just one second, before nodding once. Felt sick when Kim treated her to a trusting smile and walked up to the makeshift altar, accepting the sticks of incense Shego handed her. Bidding her to light them, Kim did as she was told. With incense in hand, she bowed thrice to Xaio Qing, who had reclined onto her side, propping her head up with an elbow. Sticking the three sticks of incense in the incense pot, Kim waited for further instructions.

"Now, you will offer a gift to your new shi fu. Usually, you would give a hong bao--red envelope money. This shows that you will support your shi fu financially."

"But... I have nothing." Kim suddenly felt panicky.

"I will accept something else," Xaio Qing's voice lightly tripped over themselves like a babbling brook over pebbles. "Riches I have plenty, so this is ridiculous. But I will have this done correctly, for your sake of course. I will accept something else of yours that is red." Xaio Qing's eyes lighted on Kim's pretty head. "They say... a woman's greatest wealth is her hair."

Xaio Qing clapped her hands together, and when she slowly spread them; a pair of shears dropped from her hands onto the dias. She picked up these scissors and handed them to Shego. Shego accepted them, trying to control her emotions so they wouldn't be splayed all over her face. How wrong she felt about this. How she wanted to stop this right away.

How much she loved Kim's long red hair.

Shego didn't know she had been gripping on to the scissors until Kim's polite cough brought her back to reality.

"Its alright," Kim said in English and smiled. Took the shears from Shego's numb fingers. Gathered her long red hair into a ponytail and cut as close to the scalp as she was able to.

"Into the bronze bowl." croaked Shego. Kim complied readily. "Now you must pour a cup of tea and offer it to your shi fu. This offering is symbolic of how you will help your shi fu physically and empower her with your efforts."

Kim poured out the tea with unshaking hands, and while wondering whether or not she should go around the altar, a flip of Xaio Qing's hands brought the cup floating towards Kim's new shi fu. Tossing her head back, Xaio Qing downed the scalding liquid in one gulp and grinned at Kim.

"I happily accept you, disciple. Happily."

"Now, you must bow once more to your shi fu." Shego managed to keep the shakiness out of her voice. "Then, you bow to your shi fu's other disciples."

"Disciple." Xaio Qing smiled winningly at Shego. "Disciple in the singular. I have but one other."

Kim did as she was told.

"The ceremony has been completed." Shego felt completely drained. But she had enough power to muster a shudder when she heard what Xaio Qing said to Kim.

"We will eat dinner now. I am sorry I cannot give you your gift tonight nor a written proclamation of my acceptance of you. But tomorrow night. I will give you your gift and we will begin our first lesson." Xaio Qing had cleared the dining room magically and a clap of her hand sent plates of food barging through the door. "Now we eat!"

Dinner was a quick affair. Xaio Qing was too easily tired now and retired to bed early, not even bothering to clean up the dishes. Which left Shego and Kim to do it alone. This was one of the only times the two got to have alone, and they spent it in silence in the dim kitchen; one washing dishes and the other drying. Both tried to prolong the time they had together, content to stay quiet. But when Shego walked Kim to her room, there was an uncomfortable silence that demanded to be filled, and Shego caved to that need.

"You take care and do what she says, okay?" Shego's hand shot out to take Kim's. A gentle squeeze of that warm hand--Kim shivered when she felt the pad of Shego's thumb quickly and unmistakably rub the inside of her palm--then released. "You'll be alone here."

"What?" Kim started. "Why? Where are you going?"

"I'll be at the village. Its time for you to have some 'alone' time with Xaio Qing." Shego said wryly, doing a very good impression of the conversation she had with Kim a month ago. The newly-shorn redhead had the decency to blush.

"You could've told me you were training with Xaio Qing! If you say 'alone time', that term leaves it very open to misinterpretations!" Kim stage-whispered.

"I imagine so..." Shego drawled sardonically, one eyebrow raised. When Kim sputtered and tried to give an explanation, she was quickly silence by Shego's light chuckle. The smile that followed was warm, hesitant and anxiously heart-rending. And as impossible as it was, it was all that all at the same time. "I'll be back in a few days."

"Okay." Kim wished she could say more, but before she could even find the words, Shego had already walked away.

* * *

She Cun was in a state of celebration to receive Shego. People all wanted to talk to her, clamboured to see her and inquire about her health, ask where Kim was, how she was, how Xaio Qing was...

And all Shego wanted to do was to be left alone. She felt sick. This sense of loathing she felt turned her stomach and all the sweet foods that were held to her lips tasted like ashes. When did this mysterious sickness start? It stemmed from that night with Kim, but that wasn't it. It was also in conjuncture to how she treated Kim afterwards, and that knowledge at the back of her mind... coupled with the sweetness of Xaio Qing's voice and the heavy burden of what she was doing.

'I just mess everything up. Everything.' Shego sat in the clearing where she and Kim had reconciled. It was quiet. It was beautiful.

It was so not the place Shego needed to be.

Here, alone, her demons tortured her, her wandering conscience had come home with a vengeance. Asked her, with a slow condescending tone, if what she was doing was right. Right. She had never bothered with discerning between right and wrong before. But, here she was. Thinking. Rolling the consequences of her actions, over and over in her mind. Over and over. And that churning feeling in her stomach didn't lessen, only grew worse.

Ashes in her mouth.

She spat out that dry taste, tasted something sour and wiped her mouth.

So many things she was keeping from Kim, and the guilt was killing her. But for all of this to work... Kim must not know. Shego stared up at the sun, squinting as the rays sent sharp refreshing pain shooting through her eyes to her brain. But she resolutely kept her eyes open and stared at the sun until black spots dotted her vision.

"Shego!" A cheerful cry pulled Shego's eyes away from the sun, and the depressed woman made out Ting Ting running towards her happily... and Fong.

"Ting Ting." Shego's arms were ready to embrace the young girl. Ting Ting had grown, as children would, in the time she had been away from the village. How long had she been away? She Cun and Er Mei both ran on a different time frame than the outside world and each other. A month on the outside, between new moon to full moon, was 30 something days. Here, between new moon and full moon, it was way more than 60 days. As Xaio Qing's powers grew, the days stretched out longer, tried to squish as much sunsets and sunrises as possible into the cycle of the moons, and Xaio Qing's circle of power and influence increased. All that resided in Xaio Qing's power aged according to the outer world time... But suns rose and set, days past. Longer. And longer. Xaio Qing was testing her powers, giving all those under her domain a sort of eternity that she constantly twisted and tried to master. It was like that William Blake poem... sure, when he wrote his poem, he couldn't've had Xaio Qing in mind. But it was so good at describing Xaio Qing's power as of right now.

_Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand... And Eternity in an hour..._

"Shego."

Shego felt her chest tighten at Fong's voice. "Michelle."

"What's wrong?"

Even after not seeing each other in so long, Fong was in tune to Shego's moods. She had seen that forced smile that Shego flashed the crowds and her quick withdrawal to the clearing for some alone time. Had noticed that tense stiffness in her spine and the exhaustion at the corner of her eyes. Fong could see Shego was losing weight. Her normally pale face helped disguise how sick she was, but Fong knew. Just didn't know that Shego was sick from worry. Weak from Xaio Qing's tapestry.

"Nothing."

"Don't lie, you can't hide from me." Fong came to Shego's side and knelt down beside her. She was shocked when she saw tears pouring out of Shego's eyes.

"Its... the sun." Shego wiped at her eyes angrily, trying to banish the tears. But they kept coming. And a sob tore itself from the woman's throat. Ting Ting looked up at Shego with huge watery eyes and hugged the green-and-black garbed woman ferociously.

"And the dust too, Shego?" Fong asked sympathetically.

Another sob choked Shego's answer, and she nodded her head.

"Are you cold?" Fong asked softly. Even though it was still a warm fall day, Shego nodded. Under the pretense of warming Shego up, Fong wrapped her arms around Shego's shaking shoulders as the tears poured out endlessly.

"Shego," Fong was helpless in the face of Shego's despair. The woman had always been strong! She had never seen her cry before, not like this... "Shego, what's wrong?"

"Michelle... I'm so glad... God, so glad you married Cheung." Shego half-laughed half-sobbed.

"Shego?" Fong never understood why Shego didn't let her go to Er Mei. But now she understood a bit better, could believe that Shego hadn't wanted to let her go. What could have made this normally strong woman so distraught?

"What's wrong, Shego?" Fong asked, trying not to let the desperation creep into her voice. This was the woman she loved. Fong knew she was so dangerously close to that line that had been drawn... leaning over it. But she didn't care. She wanted it. But she needed Shego to need her. Shego curled herself tighter around an unprotesting Ting Ting. It was confusing for the child to see someone who was usually so strong, so sure of herself... so lost. The only thing Ting Ting knew to do in a situation like this was cry along with Shego, feeling the woman's pain horribly, empathizing with the woman as only a child would.

"Shego," Fong said her name pleadingly.

Shego just shook her head, refusing to answer. Refusing to look at Fong. Because if she did--just being this close to her and feeling that aching yearning for her--oh god, she was so weak. Maybe in view of all the wrong things she's been doing, she can do some things right. Like not ruin Fong's marriage. Shego buried her head in Ting Ting's head of hair, away from Fong's temptingly open face. Helpless, Fong could only hug Shego and rock her gently as she cried.

* * *

The day had been carefree. Shego had left before Kim had even woken up. Kim had ate breakfast alone(prepared in advance by Shego), and decided to go to the marsh course. The different poses she relaxed into on top of those poles gave her a kind of serenity, the balance she attained on top of those poles centered her being. On top of these poles, she pondered the mystery that was Xaio Qing. Nam Ho and the monks' appearance had left her with a clarity she hadn't realized she didn't have. And it finally made her feel fully in control, like back then when she was Kim Possible, saving the world with her friend Ron and his naked molerat Rufus. When Shego and Drakken was her archnemesis'. Back when Kim was confident in her ability and her position as the girl who could do anything.

'How could such a flake be as dangerous as Nam Ho says?' Kim thought. And indeed, her new shi fu was for lack of a better word, a flake. Xaio Qing was extremely playful and didn't seem to deserve the reverence that Shego treated her with. While Shego worked hard to train Kim, Xaio Qing worked equally hard at goofing off and having fun. The power she wielded seemed harmless to Kim. She used it to play pranks, from causing sporadic storms when Shego was outside, to parlour tricks like pulling flowers out of her sleeves, or coins and jewels from Shego and Kim's ears and mouth. There was also her guzheng, but Kim couldn't decide whether Xaio Qing was intentionally befuddling her or not. And if she was intentionally clouding her mind, was it for fun or did Xaio Qing do it with malicious intent?

To Kim, Xaio Qing was just a big harmless puppy. But what about how Shego seemed so... fearfully respectful? And how the monks worried? But what about how the villagers treated their protector on a mountain like a god who could do no wrong? Plus her own misgivings. And Xaio Qing's friendly nature.

'Jim and Tim... Ron and Monique...' Her thoughts drifted to her brothers and her friends. They were looking for her? Nam Ho's offer had been so tempting. It would be so easy to just leave and go. Kim balanced in the crane position. She wanted to see them. But she can't. She couldn't leave. If Xaio Qing was dangerous, and she was in danger, then that meant everybody who had a connection to this powerful woman was in danger also.

There was something she wasn't quite getting, some blatant clue she had missed.

How well did Kim know Xaio Qing anyways?

Running a hand through her short hair, she shook her head experimentally, marvelling at how much lighter she felt.

* * *

Xaio Qing didn't wake up until it was time for dinner. She dismissed Kim's makeshift dinner (Kim had used the ingredients she had in the kitchen to make sandwiches) and conjured up her own. It was a delicious meal that consisted of all of Kim's new favourite dishes in Er Mei.

"Tonight will be the last night I will be here," Xaio Qing informed. Her voice was slow and lethargic. "I have stayed too long. We will conclude the contract that we had started yesterday, after dinner of course."

Dinner was a quiet affair, as Xaio Qing seemed to be able to concentrate on only one thing at a time, and right then, it was eating. She tried at conversation, asking Kim what she did during the day. Kim would answer the questions, but she could tell Xaio Qing was only half-listening.

"I could do the dishes tonight--"

"No." Xaio Qing waved her hand in one motion, and the dishes disappeared. "We shall commence. I must leave soon." The snake demoness' voice was hoarse and raspy.

'Her voice sounds like... autumn.' Like leaves in the wind... like... snake scales against the ground...

"Come, you shall take a bath and retire to your room. I shall get everything ready." Kim had hardly ever heard that commanding tone she heard now in Xaio Qing's voice. Neither had she seen Xaio Qing as she was now... the movements of the normally supernaturally graceful woman was not there. Instead, it was replaced by a jerky tiredness, as if her body was being tugged about by a string. As if her skin didn't fit her quite right.

"If you're tired--" Kim didn't know why she was stalling, was surprised that she was. All she was aware of was this relunctance to go anywhere with the snake and her instincts screaming at her to try her best to avoid whatever was going to come next.

"No." The voice was firm. "You will do as I say." Then Xaio Qing's voice took on her usual playful tone, but it didn't make Kim feel any better. Instead, it did the opposite and rang every internal warning bell Kim had. "What is wrong, Kim?"

"Nothing." Any other answer, and Kim knew, just KNEW something bad would happen.

"Then I will see you later!" Off the dias, Xaio Qing walked slowly to the door. When she had left, Kim made her way to her own room, gathering a change of clothes and trying to shake the ice-cold fear that had gripped her. She made her way through the dark courtyard to the bath, quickly stripping and slipping into the steaming murky waters. The candles around the room that normally gave the bath a romantic kind of feel cast too many shadows for Kim's liking. This was the first time she had been without Shego up in Er Mei. First time she had been alone with Xaio Qing.

Kim had to drag herself out of the warm water, shivering when met with the air that was significantly cooler than the bathwater. She quickly towelled off the moisture on her body and put on her clothes. Kim was scared. She didn't know of what. But Kim wasn't one to run away from things. She padded softly back to her room, and just as Kim touched her bed, the slow seductive music of the guzheng started. Low, deep notes that resonated within her and made her suddenly struggle to stay awake, struggle to control her suddenly clumsy body, but she couldn't. Falling forward onto the bed, she was conscious... or she thought she was. She was in that state between sleep and wakefulness, the state where she was aware but could not engage her environment, could not..

The door was opening slowly.

"Kim?"

Kim's attempt to answer was an indiscernible noise. At that sound, Xaio Qing chuckled. And Kim was aware of something... SLITHERING towards her.

"This is my promise to you, Kim Possible." Paralyzed on the bed, past the haze in her brain and the sound of her heartbeat in her ears, Xaio Qing's voice cut through all of that. It was Xaio Qing's voice, yet it wasn't. This voice, instead of the gentle teasing voice Xaio Qing usually used, this voice boomed with power. "You have pledged yourself to me and I will dedicate myself to you. I will teach you the secrets stored deep within me and you shall know greatness. As proof of my sincerity to take you under my wing, I shall provide you with a part of me. My signature shall be upon you, and those that look upon you and seek to harm you will know true fear. I shall come to your aid with no thought on mercy; my wrath shall be terrible and I will destroy those that dare touch you. I give this to you, my disciple, happily. Gladly. Your enemy shall be mine; I shall hate with an unquenchable fury.

I ask only one thing from you. Your swift obedience in this, I command. For I honour you with my love, you shall honour me with yours. No other shall you love more than I. I ask nothing more than that. If you disobey me in this, your punishment will be fast and horrible."

On the bed. Something had slipped on to the bed...

"AH!" Kim's surprised scream woke her body up, as something unbearably hot yet indescribably cold was pressed into her spine. She pressed herself against the mattress, trying to scramble away from that strange intruder that she could feel burrowing into her... It burned and blazed, until it was nothing but a dull throb. It wasn't pain she felt, yet neither was it pleasure. It was a heady mix of something that seemed to make her tongue feel thick and her limbs heavy with something rushing through her veins, incorporating itself into her being. It was... it was... wonderful. This, Kim was sure, was how it must feel like to fly.

"THAT is something only I can give you." Xaio Qing's voice seemed to be whispering right next to her ear. "Do you feel that? That is POWER."

Kim's only answer was to groan into the sheets as everything finally overwhelmed her, all her muscles tensed in an excrutiatingly painful moment, then she relaxed, senseless on her bed. There on Kim's back, a single speck of something that glowed green dully, then vanished from sight. It was hidden, but it was there. One scale grafted onto Kim's back. One of Xaio Qing's scales.

"Until you grow your own." Xaio Qing watched Kim's breathing even out before leaving. Her body moved eerily as she got off the bed, exiting the room, the house; and through the gates to where the ground writhed with thousands of snakes on their way up Er Mei. Their destination was the hibernation cavern of the greatest one of them all. There, they would curl up into one great pulsing mass and sleep the sleep of the dead.

Clothed in only the silk sheet Shego had wrapped her in when she had arrived that spring, Xaio Qing stepped out onto the mat of serpents and began her pilgrimage to the top of Er Mei.

* * *

endnote: Clamouring for explanations, right? Okay, I'ma give you this. I was actually thinking of holding out til the very end. LoL. Well.. I actually didn't give you guys much... but I'm pretty sure a couple of you are at KPslash board discussing WTF am I writing? lol. Okay, love you guys mucho. 


	22. Infiltration

Infiltration

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M.

beginnings: What the hell, eh? Where have I been hiding myself? Well, writing fanfiction at work has caught up to me and I've been actually doing work. I'm not as bad a worker as I make myself out to be, really. I'm actually a really good worker who knows when to slack and when to work. :)

* * *

Shego rubbed a thumb gently over the smooth green scale, Kim wiggled a bit.

"It tickles!"

Shego smirked and pinched the bare skin of Kim's back making the shorn redhead cry out laughingly.

"Its one of Qing's, alright." Shego pulled Kim's shirt back down. Teasingly, the young heroine pulled up her shirt a little again to be met by Shego's scowl and a light repproving slap. "Stop that."

"Spoilsport." Kim pouted and pulled her shirt back down. From what Shego could surmise, the young woman was still on her power-high. Shego had coined the term to describe what had happened to herself when Xaio Qing had given Shego much the same thing. With the alien magic flowing through one's vein, it made people overly confident, agressive, brazen and gave them illusions of grandeur. Much like certain recreational drugs did. Shego actually remembered quite clearly what an ass she had made of herself after Xaio Qing had graciously given her the gift and Shego had staggered down Er Mei in what Fong described as an 'awesome impression of a gorilla beating its chest'.

'Oh gawd.' Shego groaned inwardly as Kim challenged her to an arm-wrestling match. She remembered EVERY detail of that night. Shego had told everybody who would listen that she would rule the world and would have a harem that had Angelina Jolie, Keira Knightley, Zhang ZiYi and a whole lotta other hot women in it. Thank god the only people who understood English that was around was Fong and Cheung.

"Come on!" Kim giggled, pushing Shego. "Lets go! Come on! Or are you afraid, huh? Is that it? Are you afraid Ms. Oh-I-have-green-fire-coming-outta-my-hand? Huh? Come on!"

Shego didn't know whether to be angry, annoyed or just amused by what an ass Kim was making of herself.

"You're so going to regret it in the morning when you come down." Shego commented and ducked a wild punch. "Hey! Stop that!"

_"Think of it as... fertilizer. To get a tree, you need sunlight, good soil and water. Your seed is still growing right now. This will help it along." _

Shego felt her heartrate climbing in anticipation as light fingers teased the ticklish flesh on her back. Xaio Qing straddled her waist, touching her tense body, trying to massage the knots out of her shoulders.

"The body is a temple for the soul... how true that rings. With such a magnificent body," Another finger trailed down Shego's back, making her shiver. "The gift I give you shall truly flourish."

"Wait."

"Hm?" The scale gleamed between Xaio Qing's fingers.

"It'll shed?"

"Of course," Xaio Qing chuckled. "Are you scared?"

"No."

Xaio Qing planted a kiss on the designated spot on Shego's back. "Good."

"What are you doing!" Shego screeched and kicked at Kim, trying to detach the woman off her body.

"Sheeeego..." whined Kim. She had somehow managed to avoid Shego's attempts at pushing her off and was now mashing her face in Shego's breasts with a rumbling purr, doing her best impression of an octopus, hands grabbing everything she could. Kim even succeeded in eliciting a scandalized squawk from Shego as hands freely groped Shego's perky ass.

"Stop it you freaking pervert!" Shego finally managed to push Kim off, breathing heavily. A predatory look had come over Kim's eyes.

"Shego... don't play around," Shego's eyes widened as Kim loosened the top button of her shirt. They had spent a year together. Kim was a woman. A mature young woman. If Shego forgot that before, Kim was reminding her right now.

"We are NOT doing this!" Shego hissed, hands clenched into fists as she relaxed into a fighter's stance. Shego was trying so hard to keep the angry look on her face. But Kim's striptease had just taken a turn for the ridiculous as the redhead sung off tune in between swearing under her breath at her pants that had somehow gotten tangled as she proceeded to take them off.

"Kim." Shego sat down cross-legged on the floor as she watched Kim, who was now rolling around the floor kicking at her pants in an attempt to get them off her. "Kim. What do you think you're doing?"

"Gotta be free..." Kim muttered in reply. "Clothes... are... enclosing! RRRARH!"

Kim tore off her clothes in a very good impression of the Hulk.

"Oh. My. God." Shego covered her face with her hands as Kim ran out the door. "Lookatmeeee! I'm the king of the world!"

Shego followed the exuberant redhead outside, eyes widening as the last two articles of clothing were flung up into the air and Kim was dressed in nothing else but her birthday suit and wading into the stream. The carp, who had been sleeping, swam away from her in fright as Kim splashed around merrily.

"Come on Shego! Its freeee!" Kim squealed, throwing water into the air. "And it feels sooooo good!"

"Psh," Shego stood a distance away so Kim couldn't pull any surprise moves on her. The night was still warm, but Shego would rather not get wet. "Nono, you go ahead and do what you want."

Shego stood there and watched Kim splash around in the moonlight, a wide grin on her face. With Xaio Qing gone for the winter, Shego guiltily realized how much she needed Xaio Qing to not be there. The entire summer, she had been checking herself, making sure Xaio Qing didn't suspect anything about her and Kim--not that there was anything happening presently. Everything that had happened was in the past. What had happened was a one time thing. Yeah.

Without Xaio Qing, she felt so at ease, knowing that the snake demoness was deep in slumber and would not be getting up any time soon. And when the cat's away... Shego felt an overwhelming urge to do... something. Like a teenager who's parents are away, Shego wanted to celebrate the sudden freedom. Not as wildly as Kim was doing right now. But something she hadn't been allowed to do the entire time Xaio Qing had been here.

"You're gonna catch a cold in that stream!" Shego scolded, realizing that she sounded like a disapporving parent.

"You gonna catch me?" Kim waggled her eyebrows. Shego just shook her head ruefully, Kim made a small noise of disappointment and stuck out her tongue at Shego.

"Spoilsport."

Shego just chuckled and shrugged as Kim attempted to swim in the knee-deep stream. Leaving for just a moment, Shego came back with a long towel and motioned for the redhead to come to her.

"The water's fun!" pouted Kim, refusing to leave her place in the water.

"I'm fun," Shego growled. "Come here."

"Fun?" Kim got up, grinning lecherously. "How fun?"

"Very fun." Shego gave Kim a seductive smirk. That got Kim out of the water quickly. Shego enveloped Kim in the towel and shivered when she felt that cold, wet and very naked body press against her.

"Shego," Kim breathed out the other woman's name, her mouth seeking Shego's.

"Uh-uh," Shego dodged the kisses playfully. "Come on, somewhere more comfortable..."

Kim followed eagerly, like a trusting puppy back into her own room. "Shego," Kim licked her suddenly dry lips. Shego had backed onto the bed and spread out her arms to welcome Kim into them. As soon as Kim fell into those arms though, the brunette quickly pressed some points on the back of Kim's neck and the redhead fell forward senselessly.

"Trust me." Shego moved the unconscious Kim off of her. Placing the girl in bed, she smoothed back Kim's bangs, which had escaped Kim's amateur hacking. "You'll thank me later." Shego stayed there next to Kim for a while, one corner of her mouth pulled up in an amused smile as she regarded Kim's new 'do. "When you wake up, we're gonna give you a make-over."

Shego tucked Kim into bed and went back to her room. Changing into her night clothes, Shego burrowed into the sheets, sighing contently. THIS was what she had missed. The freedom to sleep alone in the comfort of her own room.

* * *

The big dog loped after the thrown stick and brought it back to the feet of the little girl who had thrown it, albeit a little slobbier than before. That didn't stop the girl from giggling, picking it up again, and throwing it. The black and tan dog promptly ran after it.

"Ba-ba!" The little girl ran up to a young man with shorn hair who was currently watching men load packages into his truck. At his daughter's call, he turned around and the sun gleamed off the diamond stud in his left ear. "Ba-ba, look, doggie!"

The dog ran up and sat down beside Ting Ting, easily looming over her by a good head and some. He dropped his stick and started washing Ting Ting's face with slobbery kisses.

"Ewwww!" Ting Ting squealed and hugged the dog around his neck.

"Ting Ting, no." Cheung shook his head and sighed. "No doggies. We talked about this."

"But-but-but I want it!" wailed Ting Ting who clutched the dog even harder.

"Ting Ting, our truck's almost full and there's still more stuff we need to bring back to She Cun. There won't be enough space." Cheung pursed his lips together. "And what if that's someone's dog?"

"He's not! Ba-ba..." Ting Ting whined. "I want him! I-I'll feed him my rice. I'll take care of him and everything!"

"He's a stray dog, Ting Ting. And we have enough of those in She Cun. Why is this one so special?" Cheung knelt down in front of his daughter. Cheung struggled against his daughter's tearful face and irresistable pout. Where the hell did she learn to do that? Cheung could feel his defenses weakening. "Howabout this, Ting Ting. I'll look around, and I'll get you a puppy instead--"

"No!" Ting Ting shook her head as hard as she could. "I want this one!"

The black-faced dog panted happily, watching the exchange without a clue of what was going on.

"He's not even trained, Ting Ting." To get his point across, he held out his hand to the dog. "Shake!"

Immediately, the dog placed a paw in Cheung's hand. Stunned by the dog's obedience, his eyes narrowed when he caught his daughter giving him a smug look.

"See! He's sooooo good. Aren't you? You're such a good boy!" Ting Ting giggled as the dog attacked her with more slobbery kisses.

"Well, can he roll over?" The dog promptly dropped to the ground and rolled over. He got up smartly and let out a bark, wagging his tail joyfully, happy to comply to the commands.

"Play dead?"

The canine dropped onto his back, eyes lolled to the back of his skull and his tongue stuck out the side of his mouth, playing dead spectacularly well.

"Don't even try." Old Yu, the postman, chuckled.

"Yu," Cheung greeted and accepted the various packages and letters. Stowing them away in the truck, the two men watched Ting Ting playing happily with the dog, who had miraculously come back from the dead. He pranced around, looking like a proud equinine. God, he was the size of one! Cheung had recognized the breed immediately, despite the mud on the dog's coat. A german shepherd. "This your dog?"

"Naw, showed up a couple of days ago in some gwi-lo foreigner's car." Old Yu rubbed his nose. "Not theirs, though. They say its been following them around. Seems like they've shaken him and then disappeared and left the dog here."

"He's smart, huh?"

"Damn smart." Old Yu nodded. "Gentle as anything else and watches the kids just great. Why, just the other day," Old Yu crossed his arms and settled into story-telling mode. "Blackie saved the Chan's boy. He was swimming in the old graveyard, see, and he got a cramp. Younger brother was around but he can't do anything. Good thing Blackie appeared out of nowhere and rescued the boy."

"Blackie, huh?" Cheung noted the dog's fully black face and cringed at the name. "Who was the genius that decided to name him Blackie?"

"So creative, eh?" Old Yu barked out a laugh and ended it in a coughing fit. Cheung pounded on the old man's back until he got his breath back. "Well, you can blame the children for that. They all immediately thought of the name."

"So no-one owns it?" Cheung rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Would you miss him?"

"We would miss Blackie, of course. But if it pleases the representative of She Cun... we are sure you can offer him a better home than ours."

"Thanks." Cheung grinned. "Well, seems like a combination of Blackie and the good harvest of the other villages has saved YOUR village from the rest of the tribute I need to collect." Cheung stopped several coolies from loading the truck. "That's enough. I won't have enough space for... Blackie, was it?"

The bags of supplies Cheung had been collecting was taken off the truck, to Ting Ting's delight.

"Thank you Ba-ba!" Ting Ting immediately jumped into the truck and motioned for Blackie to follow. The dog did so without hesitation and with great enthusiasm.

"Well then... I guess that's that." Cheung and Old Yu exchanged handshakes. "Please tell your village this dog has cut down on a good deal of what Xaio Qing is asking for. Looks like Blackie's a hero."

A pair of binoculars were trained on the large vehicle, unknown to the occupants of said vehicle. Jim and Monique watched the car drive away, careful to duck back into the underbrush when it passed them. Cheung was a person of interest. In all the villages scattered in the general area where Kim had disappeared to, there was always mention of the mysterious villagers of She Cun and their main delegate, Yeung Nam Cheung. And what they had heard had been extremely interesting, though some of the rumours bordered on preposterous.

"Magic?" Jim looked around the meeting room of the new Team Possible. "A giant snake demon? Get real."

"It could be possible." Dr. Drakken piped up from his seat.

"Who asked you?" Jim snapped.

Team Possible's new HQ was in one of Drakken's old lairs. Drakken had offered what little help he could, and Team Possible had grudgingly agreed to let him. Drakken had been a model prisoner when GJ had locked him up so they had let him out on probation and into the custody of Team Possible after Shego hadn't come for him. At first, Monique and the others had refused, pointing out that even if GJ didn't consider Drakken a threat, he was still a criminal that deserved to be locked away forever. GJ had CHARGED Team Possible to take in Drakken. It seemed Drakken had fallen into a deep depression since Shego had left AGAIN. Without Shego, he was just a dorky second-rater that the other prisoners beat on. Drakken might have been the brains(a BIG might have) in the operation, but Shego was the one who carried out his plans. Without Shego, Drakken was reduced to a nobody. While GJ was more than willing to keep those who deserved to be in jail IN jail; Drakken was just so pathetic it garnered the sympathy of the higher-ups.

"Man, I'd be worried too if I was Drakken. I mean, why would Shego stay with Drakken when she could branch out on her own?" Ron had whispered to Monique. Unfortunately, Drakken had been in the vicinity and heard what Ron had said and had immediately burst into tears.

"Poor guy," Tim sighed. "I think I'd be like that too if I was an evil genius and the one person who would carry out my stupid plans left me."

"But besides the snake demon thing," Monique leaned back in her chair. "This lead is worth investigating."

Rumour had it that this mysterious village could only be entered if one of the occupants of She Cun invited you. Otherwise, it couldn't be accessed. Tim and Jim had tried following Cheung on more than one ocassion, even using tracking devices or even stowing away on Cheung's truck. It was strange that no matter what they tried, they were unsuccessful in pinpointing the location of She Cun. So they had devised a plan to get someone to sneak into the village. Jim, Tim and Ron had volunteered readily. Even Rufus had volunteered. But people were generally suspicious of the outsiders and chances that if Cheung knew about Kim and was keeping her against her will, he wouldn't be open to letting outsiders snoop around She Cun. So Monique had sent the only member of Team Possible that could possibly get the job done. Tigger.

Jim had suggested his dog, and was confident in the young german shepherd's skills at reconnaissance.

"Well, what about Rufus?" Ron held out his naked molerat hopefully.

Monique shook her head. "Sorry, Ron. I'm thinking Team Possible's famous naked molerat running around would tip off our hand."

So Tigger it was.

"Was our hunch right?" Jim asked eagerly as Monique watched Tigger's signal bleeping on the communicator. The woman held her hand up to silence the young man. Suddenly, the white dot that represented the microchipped Tigger started blinking on and off as it had run into interference... then it disappeared.

"Bingo." Monique couldn't keep the excitement from her voice. Team Possible had started losing hope of getting any closer to finding Kim Possible, but now... now things were looking up.

* * *

"Trust me." Shego tilted Kim's face this way and that, looking at the mop of hair on Kim's head with great interest.

"I don't know," Kim said nervously as she eyed the scissors in Shego's hand. Outside of the sprawling estate, Shego had set up a chair, a table and a large mirror in a sort of make-shift barber's table. It was so much easier to cut Kim's hair outside where they didn't have to clean up afterwards.

"Please," Shego ran her fingers through Kim's hair. "I can't do worse than what you did to your hair." Pulling out a flat comb from her back pocket, Shego ran it through Kim's locks until she was satisfied. Scissors poised to cut, Kim stopped Shego again.

"What?" Shego asked impatiently.

"How are you going to cut it?" Kim asked.

Shego knelt in front of Kim and grinned. "You'll have a haircut any lesbian would be proud of."

That earned a smack from Kim.

"You're gonna look beautiful, okay?" Shego pulled on a strand of Kim's hair. "Trust me." Shego's voice took on a teasing note. "If its any consolation to you, I want you to know that nothing I can ever do to you now could ever embarass you as thoroughly as you did last night."

"Can we PLEASE not remind me about last night!" Kim hid her face in her hands. "I can't believe I ran around naked..."

Shego took this opportunity to snip away at Kim's hair while the redhead was distracted. "And grabbed my ass."

"And grabbed your ass!" Kim's face was about as red as her hair.

Shego just chuckled as Kim bemoaned her total lack of self-control the night before.

The sun was warm on their heads and to offset the heat, a light breeze would occasionally stir up the air. It was a nice day.

* * *

endnote: Thereyago. And the teaser I put on the KPslashboard... don't you guys hate me:D The ending sorta just... ends. 'It was a nice day'. Hm. 


	23. Culmination

Culmination

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo

rating: M? NC-17? I dunno?

beginnings: You've all been waiting for this. Or at least some of you. But here we are... one of those fics that can't be seen on cuz they're bitches. And to all my readers at ff dot net, I love you guys. You know who you are ;)

* * *

Tigger ran through the forest, scaring the small creatures that came out at night. Whenever he was uncertain of where he was supposed to be heading, he would just stay still and listen.

There it was. A high-pitched whistle. His master called.

Before long, his eyes could see a shining wall in front of him. Pausing for just one second, he let out an anxious whine. He could see his master and his family on the other side, but his master seemed not to notice him! His beloved master put the whistle to his lips again and blew.

No time to think! His master called! Tigger plunged through the barrier, yelping in surprise when he felt... nothing. Not pausing to ponder the ramifications of that, he jumped onto his master, attacking him with frantic kisses.

'I missed you I missed you I missed you I missed you!' Tigger was so happy! And his master was happy to see him to! He had milkbones! He LOVED his master!

"Good boy! Who's a good boy? Tigger's my good boy!"

Tigger wagged his tail as hard as he could, trying to show how happy he was and tried to do all the tricks he could do at once to please his master, from 'shake' to 'roll over' to 'jump' and everything else he could think of in his excitable state. A collar and leash was put on the squirming puppy.

"Go back." Tigger obeyed. Turning to trot at a slow pace back through the shining wall, he stopped to see if his master was following him. But he wasn't! Tigger let out a bark, but his master seemed to not notice and looked around unseeingly.

"Tigger, come back here baby!"

Tigger obeyed and walked back to his master, who seemed astonished to see him, as if he had come out from nowhere! Tigger tilted his head to the side as his master turned towards his friends.

"Did you see that?" Jim asked Monique, Tim and Ron. They all nodded. Jim's dog had appeared out of nowhere, disappeared, then reappeared again when Jim called.

"There must be some kind of invisible barrier..." Ron mused.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh!" Rufus nodded, agreeing. Unlike the humans, Rufus could see the barrier just fine.

"So we can't get in." Jim thought darkly. He nodded almost absentmindedly and snapped his fingers. Tigger walked over to his master's side, looking up at Jim with an adoring expression on his canine face. The redheaded boy smiled down at his pet and rubbed Tigger's head affectionately. That bushy tail thumped on the forest floor happily and Tigger let out a grunt of pleasure when Jim scratched him behind his ears.

"Go back, okay Tigger? Go back." Taking off the collar and leash, Jim pulled out a ziplock bag from his pocket. Opening it, he took out a sock he had found underneath his sister's bed. It was unwashed, and yes, it was nasty. But Jim knew for a fact that it was what Tigger would need to find Kim. Holding the sock out to the dog who sniffed it carefully, Jim repeated the command. "Find Kim. Find Kim, okay? Find!"

Tigger barked happily then bounded away.

* * *

It was back to routine now that Xaio Qing was gone. Training in the daylight, homework at night. They had grown irrevocably closer. Shego allowed more touching, Xaio Qing's hibernation having mellowed her out. When Kim would pounce on Shego with surprise hug attacks, Shego would let her. Sure, the dark-haired woman would mutter mutinously, but she didn't pull away like before. In fact, sometimes she would place her hands on Kim's arms in a reply to the hug, just a few seconds of resting her hands on top of Kim's embrace, then letting go. And sometimes, of her own volition, she would maybe reach out and touch her. Maybe to grab her wrist and squeeze it lightly. Or Shego would trip Kim, or pinch her or something else juvenile that would result in a playful bout of fighting. Kim liked it most, though, when Shego on the guise of fixing Kim's hair, would run her fingers lightly through her red locks.

Shego had shortened Kim's hair to the nape of her neck, and though Kim was loathe to give the already proud Shego a compliment; the haircut hadn't been as painful as she thought it would be. Because of the way Kim had butchered her hair off, the back was short but the top and front of Kim's hair was long. So Shego had just snipped away.

"Its... nice." Kim pulled at a lock of hair, amazed at the work Shego had done on it.

"Isn't it?" Shego was busy mussing up Kim's hair. "Quick fix until you grow it long again. See? Its manageable, and you don't look half-bad with it. Good thing you had such a great barber, right?"

"Patting yourself on the back a bit too much, aren't we?" Kim rolled her eyes. Turning her head this side and that to look at how the sides of her head looked, Kim couldn't help but be pleased. The hairstyle did fit her really well!

"Hey, I just worked a miracle with something that was barely salvageable. I can't help it if I'm good at EVERYTHING." Shego twirled the scissors in her hand expertly and raised them up to blow imaginary smoke from their sharp tips. "I mean, I managed to make even Kim Possible look good. You're lucky I'm so talented." Shego paused, waiting for a reaction. When she got none, she decided to drop the little gem she had tucked away. In an omnious voice, Shego said jokingly, "Anything's possible for Shego."

"Copyright laws, Shego. You're breaking every one of them." Kim groaned at Shego's twist on the Possible motto. "Horribly. So horribly."

Shego knelt down in front of Kim and grinned up at the redhead, changing the subject. "You look like one of those flappers from the 20's. Nice."

Kim felt herself grow warm at the near proximity of Shego, but tried her best to hide it with sarcasm. "Still complimenting your work?"

"No, really." Shego said sincerely. She moved to the back and placed both hands on Kim's shoulders. "Look at yourself."

Kim did. She saw herself, green eyes and bobbed red hair. Though she was out in the sun all the time, her skin had somehow retained the creamy white complexion that was the signature of the Possible women. And Kim also saw Shego right behind her, one side of her mouth pulled up in an amused smile. A slender finger poked the side of Kim's face, and that half-smile of Shego's burst into a full-fledged grin. "You look great."

Kim Possible turned around in surprise. This was by far the most honest and most blatant compliment Kim could remember Shego ever giving her. Kim looked back at the mirror again, then back to Shego who was stunned by the genuineness of Kim's smile.

"Thank you."

Maybe they saw different things in the mirror. Shego saw a beautiful woman. Kim saw the beautiful woman who made her beautiful.

They spent time together, alone. And both silently agreed that they didn't want to share each other with the world yet, didn't want to go to She Cun yet. One moon since Xaio Qing left and they were still on Er Mei. One moon since the haircut. So much time together, the days seemed to stretch forward but were never long enough. Long enough that Shego had relaxed back into the routine of falling asleep in Kim's bed at night.

It was on one of those nights that they had somehow delved into the topic of their families.

"They're a pain, you know, but the're good kids." Kim said fondly of her brothers.

"I remember them when Drakken used that mind control chip." Shego's face darkened at the memory. "Gotta thank them for that, actually."

"Oh my god," laugh Kim. "I remember how angry you were!"

"You didn't have to tell him he was a genius after every dumb thing he said! He *made* me tell him he was a genius." Shego paused to let that sink in a bit. She grabbed her chest in mock-pain. "It was PAINFUL. It HURT me to listen to him! I was seriously in physical pain. But I couldn't do anything about it. And his jokes... god... his jokes..."

* * *

Somewhere out there, Drakken, Wade, Ron and Rufus were working at Team Possible HQ.

"So then the amoeba looked at the micro-organism and said 'oh my god! You can talk!'" Drakken finished his joke excitedly.

Wade, Ron and Rufus groaned.

"**Please** stop!" begged Ron.

* * *

"How did you fall in with Drakken anyways?" Kim hugged a pillow close to her.

Shego shrugged. "Answered his ad in the help wanted section of 'The Villainous Times'." Shego recited the words of the ad that changed her life forever. "Blue-skinned evil genius looking for ambitious sidekick. Hours flexible. Vacation time. Bonuses. Experience not required. Dollar sign, dollar sign, dollar sign."

Kim was grasping her sides and laughing so hard that tears were springing from the corners of her eyes.

"You, he.." Kim gasped. "Wooo... okay. I'm calm." Kim couldn't help the grin on her face though. "He placed an ad in the paper? And you answered it?"

"Flexible hours!" Shego exclaimed defensively. "Dollar sign, dollar sign, dollar sign!"

"Come on! Flexible hours?" A thought suddenly occurred to Kim. "You're not saying he plans all of evil schemes around your schedule?"

"He best. Or else I get OT."

Kim didn't know whether to take Shego seriously or not.

"Okay, time for lights out." Shego stretched, but made no move to go. Instead, she just rolled under the blankets. Their relationship was blurring again. Stepping over that line that shouldn't be stepped over, a line Shego had drawn and all but triple-dog-dared Kim to cross it with their casual closeness. Kim waited patiently, keeping awake and listening to Shego's breathing. When a significant amount of time had passed and Kim assumed Shego thought she was asleep, the dark-haired woman would carefully move closer and draw Kim close. They would both pretend nothing happened in the morning. But Kim felt so.. settled in those arms that held her so tightly.

They had settled into a comfortable routine, where waking up to each other and being around each other was normal.

* * *

"What's the occassion?" Kim raised an eyebrow. The morning air was chilly, and Kim could see her breath. After breakfast, the two had walked leisurely down to the bottom of Er Mei's stone steps. In exercise clothes that hardly kept the cold out, Kim jumped from one foot to the other, trying to keep warm in between stretching her muscles.

"I propose a race. Up the mountain." Shego pointed upwards. "To the pagoda."

Kim nodded and hefted some stone weights onto her back and grinned cockily at Shego. "Want a head start?"

Kim easily ducked Shego's half-hearted kick and started up the steps laughing, followed quickly by Shego. Their race was more of a war up the mountain. The 'race' consisted of the upward climb, of course. But it also consisted of the two contestants trying to hold each other back, by any means necessary. If they had an audience, the audience would be cringing at the sight of the two knocking each other down the steps. Their vicious attacks, if successful, were returned just as quickly. It was way past midday when they reached the pagoda, both severely bruised and aching all over.

"I... win..." Shego pushed Kim aside as she collapsed into the sheltering pagoda. The day had warmed considerably. Still enough of a bite in the air to remind the two women it was very close approaching winter. Kim fell down next to Shego with a groan and shoved the dark-haired villainess weakly. Shego raised her arm to retaliate, but on second thought let it drop, too tired to do anything.

"That... was... fun."

Shego had to agree.

A lot of people would disagree with their idea of 'fun'.

From her position on the floor, if Kim craned her neck backwards, she could see the sky between the frames of the pagoda. Half-hoping to see the xian he.

"Hey Shego, when does the xian he usually come?"

Shego shrugged. "Dunno. He comes when he wants and leaves when he wants."

"It'd be nice to see him," Kim mused. Her innocent wanting was so... childishly endearing. Shego rolled onto her side and propped her head up with an elbow to look down at Kim. Kim tilted her head to one side and smiled sweetly up at Shego.

"What?"

Before either of them knew what was happening, Shego had closed the distance and kissed her. Just a kiss that barely lasted a second. Shego parted briefly to look at Kim's stunned face. Cupping that face tenderly, Shego leaned down and kissed Kim again, this time lingering longer. Parted again and waited for Kim's reaction. Pushing up, Kim looked at Shego. The brunette regarded the redhead seriously, her hand wandering to Kim's hair to run her fingers through the boyishly short locks. In a sudden move, she grasped Kim's head and pulled her towards her. That movement freed Kim of her paralysis, her arm locking under Shego's arms as she groaned into that mouth that was just taking all her words away.

Just as suddenly as the kiss started, Kim pushed away.

"Kim?"

Kim was gone, hurrying away from the pagoda and down the steps of Er Mei. Shego watched the redhead running away and lay back down.

"Fuck."

* * *

Dinner was tense and quiet. Shego hadn't attempted to talk to Kim until she had fixed up something to eat. Even then, they sat in silence.

Shego cleared her throat. Kim continued eating as if she hadn't heard a thing.

"Kim." Shego put down her chopsticks.

"Yes, Shego?" Kim kept her voice pleasantly neutral.

"Are you... okay?"

"I'm fine."

"...okay..." Shego picked up her chopsticks and attempted to eat again, but ended up putting the chopsticks down again. "Why did you run away?"

Kim took a sip of hot tea. On the surface, she seemed cool, calm and detached from the situation. But since Shego kissed her in the pagoda, the careful rules she had set for herself had shattered and she was back to where she started. Utterly confounded by the enigma which was Shego. Wanting her, needing her... all these things she had bottled up was multiplied and flooded out to consume her. But the rules had worked before... maybe if she kept them up a bit longer...

"Why did you kiss me?" Kim didn't answer Shego's question, but instead threw back another question. When Shego didn't answer, Kim continued. "Why? Was it because you suddenly felt like messing me up? Is that it?"

"Don't try to act like a victim!" Shego was quick to point out. "Don't even try to tell me you didn't like it!"

"I'm not saying that, am I?" Kim finally lost her cool. "God, you're so frustrating!"

"How am I frustrating? You're frustrating!"

"Shego..." Kim rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I just want to know why. You've been telling me not to... you know... and I..." Kim looked down at her empty rice bowl, her voice lowering to a whisper. "You... know. That I... still like you."

"Then why did you run away?" demanded Shego, just now realizing why she was so angry. Shego had known that Kim still had a thing for her. The touching, the teasing, the blatant flirting. When Kim had ran away, Shego had been confused and just a little afraid that she had read Kim wrong. To cover up her insecurities, Shego had fallen back on the safest emotion she knew: anger. Unfortunately, though she was aware of that fact, she couldn't force herself to change it.

"What do you want, Shego?" Kim held out her hands helplessly. "What do you want from me?"

Shego's hands gripped the edges of the low table she was eating at, angry at the questions. Didn't know why she was just angry. "What do *you* think I want from you?" Shego's voice roughened to a growl. "I just... want you."

Silence reigned in the dining hall.

"That's just great." Kim got up from the table.

"What?" Shego got up almost simultaneously with Kim. She caught the redhead's wrist before she could make her escape. "Isn't this what you want?"

"No! If you... you totally read me wrong!"

Shego pulled the resisting Kim close. "Then why not?" Her breath was hot against Kim's neck and she leaned down to-

"Stop!" Kim pulled away and before she knew it, Shego was nursing her cheek, wide-eyed and furious at being slapped.

"You hit me!"

"Okay," Kim held up her hands. "Okay. I'm sorry. Please Shego. Just hear me out before we throw down." Kim could see Shego trying to physically restrain herself and launched into her tirade before Shego could change her mind. "I really like you, Shego."

"Then why not?" Shego growled. The woman knew she sounded like a brat, but it didn't make sense to her. Kim was attracted to her. She was attracted to Kim. What was so wrong about letting out some steam? What didn't Kim get about Shego wanting her?

"You're just, is sex all you think about?" Kim's face had reddened. "I *like* you, Shego!"

"Sex has to do with the culmination of two people liking each other!"

"Yes and no!" Kim was on the verge of angry tears and the thought of slapping Shego again was oddly satisfying. "Liking someone for me is more than just... sex!" Kim covered her face, trying to calm herself down. "Shego, you don't understand at all. I really like you. And you're just... do you just want me for the sex? Is that all I am? Because I don't think I want to do that."

"What about last time?"

Kim pursed her lips together. "Last time was really good. It was special to me, Shego. But I don't know if it was special for you. I don't want to be just another person you sleep with. I don't want to just sleep with you because you have an itch that needs to be scratched and I'm just convenient. That's how I feel last time was for you. Do you like me, Shego?"

Shego refused to look Kim in the eye.

"If you don't, then I don't want to do this." Kim said firmly, even though she was screaming at herself inside. Shego wanted her, wasn't that enough? It would feel so good to give in. She'd been flirting with Shego the whole time. Wasn't this what she was asking for?

'Say something...' Kim urged Shego in her mind.

'Say something!' Shego urged herself, but she couldn't find the words. Shego still couldn't find the words to say as Kim left the dining hall.

"Shego, you idiot." Kim muttered under her breath as she walked dejectedly back to her room. "Shego you idiot." Kim repeated as she threw herself down angrily at her table and started writing lines, immersing herself in work so she wouldn't have to think about Shego. Unfortunately, her subconscious was working against her, and before she knew it, she had written an angrily-worded letter to Shego. Twelve pages of angry words, actually.

'Shego you idiot!' Kim got up angrily and gathered her clothing for a bath. Passing by Shego's room, she could see the clear outline of Shego in her room. Kim paused outside Shego's door for just a few seconds. Shego seemed to sense her, and Kim could see her outline turn towards the door. Not wanting to be caught standing outside the villainess' door, Kim hurried on her way to the bath. Stripping in the outer room, she entered the bath area. Quickly taking a small wooden tub set on the side of the pool, she drenched herself head to toe with water. Her short hairstyle made it easy for Kim to maintain, washing it didn't take as long as it did when she had long hair. Rinsing off the suds with another couple of tubs of water, Kim slipped into the natural springs. Letting out a blissful sigh, she completely submerged herself into the water. The soothing ritual of washing herself made her forget briefly why she was so desperately in need of something relaxing.

The sound of the door opening quickly brought her back to reality. There was the object of her affection/frustration/anger all rolled into one, at the door. With nothing but a towel on. And soon, that was discarded carelessly on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Kim had to clear her throat several times before she could get the question out. Kim was sitting at the opposite end of the pool facing the door into the baths. She had a perfect view of the pale-skinned villainess slipping into the water, barely making a ripple.

"I'm finishing our argument." Shego headed straight to Kim. The redhead reached back with both arms, attempting to pull herself out of the pool. She wasn't as fast as Shego though, who had both hands clamped down on Kim's shoulders and had climbed into Kim's lap. "About what you said." The air hissed in in between Kim's clenched teeth. Her body felt like it had been lit on fire. Kim was aware of Shego pressed so intimately against her underneath the water... the barest shift... oh god...

"I like you." Shego leaned down, forearms propping her up against Kim's shoulders, hands idly stroking Kim's bangs away from her forehead. "I like you, not because you think I want to get rid of some sexual frustration. Is this what you want to hear me say?"

Shego's breasts were pressed up against Kim's. Kim could feel every breath Shego was taking. "You're not an itch that needs to be scratched. You were something more when I kissed you inside the pagoda."

A smile finally blossomed on Kim's face as she realized Shego was blushing.

"I show how I feel best with actions, not words. Words... are embarassing. And they could be misinterpreted. I should've known only you would've misinterpreted my actions." Shego's vulnerable look vanished as a predatory one took its place. "Words could never show you what my actions can."

On top of Kim, with her long black hair making a canopy around them, Kim leaned her head back into Shego's arm that had moved to pillow the back of Kim's neck. Her own hands strayed to Shego's lean and muscular back, down to stroke strong thighs. It had been so long... Kim guided Shego into a slow rhythym and Shego obligingly followed that rhythym, rubbing against Kim at a slow steady pace as they kissed each other lightly, testingly.

"Shego..."

Her name on Kim's lips urged Shego onwards. Foreheads pressed together, Kim let out a cry as fingers entered her. It had been so long since she had felt herself filled. Clenching around those slim intruders, she could feel herself milking them for the pleasure they gave her. Kim let go of Shego now and her hands grappled wildly behind her to grab a hold onto something as she bucked upwards with a cry to welcome Shego's delicious touch eagerly.

"Woah," Shego grinned, quickly repositioning herself so one knee was on the smooth rocky shelf Kim was sitting on, and a foot on the bottom of the pool to keep her balance. She held Kim close to her, delighting in the fact that she could feel every quiver of muscle along the length of Kim Possible's body.

"Kim!" Shego's eyes suddenly widened in surprise as she felt the redhead's knee nudge against her groin. Hands on Shego's hips insistantly pressed Shego down against the body part that was rubbing against her most intimate area, and Shego looked down at Kim incredulously. The redhead's eyes were half-lidded with pleasure, but that leering grin on her face told Shego she knew exactly what she was doing.

"God, Kimmie... when did you... become so..." Shego closed her eyes and doubled over, hugging Kim close to her with the one arm that she had free.

* * *

"Do you think maybe we're moving too fast?" Kim snuggled closer to Shego. After their 'bath', they had retired to Kim's room.

"Hm?" Shego woke up and looked at Kim blearily. The day's exercise, not to mention their escapades in the bath had left both of them drained. Shego had quickly succumbed to sleep while Kim lay awake pondering these exciting new developments in their relationship.

"Sleeping?" Kim smiled down at Shego. Shego replied with a smirk and a kiss. "I'm sorry I woke you. Go back to sleep."

"No, what were you saying?" In that happy place right after a bath and sex, Shego was more compliant than usual.

"Do you think we're moving too fast?" Kim repeated the question. Shego settled in Kim's arm, a thoughtful look on her face. Kim's eyebrows raised to almost her hairline as one of Shego's hands wandered underneath the t-shirt Kim wore to bed.

"Well," Shego's fingers tickled Kim's side. "Don't you think its a little too late to be bringing that up?"

"I guess..." Kim closed her eyes. She had a lot of questions, but she'd have more than enough time to ask them in the morning. But just one more... "Are we... going out?"

"Is that what you want?" Shego asked, genuinely wanting to do whatever Kim felt like.

"Well, if someone asks, what should I say we are?" Kim blushed. In the dark, the redhead didn't see the other woman frown.

"Actually, Kimmie..." Shego sat up on the bed. "I'd... rather you not tell people about this."

"What?" It was Kim's turn to frown. "Why not?"

"Well... just... I'm a really private person. I'd rather it not get around. Plus, I don't want ah Fong to find out."

"Do you still like her?" Kim couldn't help that surge of jealousy. It was understandable, right? Shego and Fong had a rather bittersweet parting. And it didn't seem like either of them willingly wanted to break up. There were circumstances beyond their control. So if things were right again, would they...?

"Well, we're on good terms. But no. Its just... Kimmie, I'm just not comfortable with people knowing my weaknesses."

"Weaknesses?"

"You're one of my weaknesses now. You're one of the few things I care about." Shego lay back down, feeling Kim's satisfaction in Shego's answer. The answer Shego gave, however, was just one of the many reasons why Shego didn't want people to know, but not the main one...

Kim fell asleep quickly, but Shego had a harder time going back to sleep now as worry gnawed at her gut. She would have to clarify to Kim in the morning what she meant by 'not tell anyone'. Nobody must know. Rumours couldn't happen, like with Michelle. Shego watched Kim sleeping peacefully. She reached up and brushed her thumb against Kim's lower lip. So beautiful...

'When did you take me?' Shego wondered to herself. She did like Kim Possible. She did. The redhead had worn her down with her constant casual touches until Shego couldn't imagine living without them. It wasn't just this incredible physical attraction either. Kim Possible was, by anyone's standards, a catch. She was charming, beautiful, witty, smart, and she saved the world a lot. And the thing about opposites attracting... Shego couldn't pinpoint the one time and place when she actually started to LIKE having Kim Possible around, but that didn't matter now, did it?

'You're something else, you know that right, Kimmie?' Shego carefully extracted herself from Kim's arms. Unable to control herself, Shego leaned down and kissed Kim. Even deep in dreamland, Kim returned the kiss unconsciously. Shego couldn't resist Kim even if she tried. Couldn't resist. She was so irresistible.

But right now, Shego couldn't sleep.

Leaving the bed quietly, the pale-skinned woman tiptoed out of the room, Shego walked through the courtyard and into the dining hall. Even though everything was shrouded in darkness, the screen on the dias seemed to glow. Hesitantly, Shego walked step by slow step towards the screen. When she was in front of it, she knelt down and reverently pulled the sheet down.

A green snake curled across half of the silk screen. Shego's eyes trailed over the length of the green snake while her hand traced the masterfully done work. Each scale on the green snake had been lovingly stitched on. Each scale individual, slight nuances in the detail made each green flake different from the other but allowed it to mesh together in beautiful harmony. On the half of the screen the green snake didn't occupy, the beginnings of a black snake grew. Like the green snake, the work was masterfully done, like a bold stroke of ink with green undertones that shimmered iridescently.

Shego bowed her head forward, palm pressed against the screen. In this desert of despair, she had found an oasis in Kim. But Shego was always aware that the desert loomed endlessly and would engulf her refuge in a second...

* * *

endnote: waited long enough for this, right? ;)


	24. Filler Fluff

Filler Fluff

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M?

Just as it says. This is a filler chapter. Who DOESN'T want to see Shego/Kim fluff in place of any actual forwarding of the plot? Huh:D What? Like always, there might be spelling mistakes and stuff in here... man.. I gotta get myself some betas or at least stop reading ove rmy stuff at night. lol. Sorry this took so long and I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

"Come on." Shego smirked. Kim's staff whirled forward with deadly precision, but Shego blocked it carefully, knocking Kim's staff aside and retaliated by stabbing forward with her staff. Kim barely managed to knock the deadly attack aside and stepped back cautiously. Almost all of her fingers and parts of her hands and wrists were bandaged with strips of cloth, having felt the 'love taps' Shego gave her. Not to say Shego wasn't without injuries. Kim had gotten a lot of good hits in all over the villainess' body. Kim breathed heavily, blinking snowflakes out of their eyes. Their battlegrounds was in front of the snow-covered courtyard outside of the walled dwellings of Xaio Qing's household. The snow muted all sound with their soft heaviness; the only thing heard was the sounds the combatants made. Whether it was the crunch of snow underneath their boots, their breathing or their fighting.

"Good." Shego complimented. Kim was forced back as Shego advanced forward, each blow making the redhead take a step back and sending waves of pain shooting up her arms.

"Cheap shots!" Kim grunted, nearly dropping her staff as Shego tapped her left pinkie. Kim was surprised her hands and all her fingers weren't broken.

Shego grinned. "In a real life situation, do you think your enemy would actually NOT use cheap moves?"

Kim suddenly found an opening in Shego's attack and lunged forward, pulling her hit a bit so it wouldn't hurt Shego as much. Kim felt satisfaction when Shego winced as her staff made contact with Shego's shoulder but immediately felt worried when Shego crumbled down on one knee.

"Are you alright?" Kim lowered her guard for just a second, and quickly, Shego swept Kim's feet from under her and was on top of Kim before she could get up. Snow feel gently around them and clumps of it stuck in Shego's hair, wild from the fight. Kim growled and try to throw Shego off, but the other woman pressed down with her body's weight, grinning.

"If this was real life," Shego held Kim's wrists down, her face was so close to Kim their noses were touching. "You'd be dead." Closing the distance for a kiss, Kim lay there submissively. That submissive compliance was just an act though, as Kim suddenly bucked upwards once again managing to unbalance Shego. In this struggle to be on top, Kim's eyes were still closed and she was still kissing Shego as she held the green-eyed villainess' shoulder down.

"If this was real," Kim finally came up for air from the kiss. "I wouldn't be letting you win."

"Letting me?" Shego raised an eyebrow at the short-haired woman. "Please. Look at your hands." Shego freed herself to grasp Kim's left hand. The redhead gasped in pain at the touch, and Shego smiled wryly, kissing the bandaged appendage softly. "Did I hurt you?"

"About as much as I hurt you." Kim kissed Shego's bruised cheek, an injury that Kim had dealt the brunette early in the exercise. That hit to the shoulder Kim gave before should be welting up to a nice bruise at this point. And Kim was certain Shego would be limping from the taps to her shins Kim had given the dark-haired woman in retaliation for the annoyance of bruised fingers.

"Ohhhh..." Shego moaned dramatically and her face scrunched up in mock-pain.

"Shego, Shego are you alright?" Kim played along, trying to keep a serious look on her face but failing miserably as she burst into light giggles.

"Oh, so my fast approaching death is funny?" Shego glared at Kim.

"Oh, sorry." Kim forced a serious expression on her face again. "Shego are you alright?"

"Kimmie, Kimmie, I-I can see the... light..." Shego swooned.

"The light?" Kim scrunched up her nose cutely. "As if! You should be really be feeling the heat if you were dying--Ow." Kim rubbed her head and glared at Shego, who continued groaning after a quick break to smack Kim upside the head.

"Quick, Kimmie!" Shego continued her swooning. "Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation!"

Kimmie smirked. "Oh, of course! Right away!"

Even though it was cold as hell, they lay in the snow, kissing slowly. Kissing was an art that required constant practise. And both found it an enjoyable endeavor to perfect this HIGHLY difficult art.

"Highly difficult?" Kim had asked one time in bed while she kissed that spot behind Shego's ear that she knew would send the pale-skinned woman squirming and sighing.

"Well," Shego pushed Kim back gently. "Not THAT difficult. Because I--" Shego broke off to nip at Kim's neck lightly, eliciting a crying gasp from Kim. "--must be doing SOMETHING right if I can make you make sounds like that so easily..."

Their kissing deepened and their breath quickened. The cold was quickly forgotten, but remembered again as Shego pushed up Kim's coat and slipped her cold hands underneath Kim's shirt.

"What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Shego replied huskily. She pushed Kim backwards slowly, until their positions had changed once again. Shego on top, Kim on the bottom. The feel of snow against her lower back made the redhead squeal and arch up, presenting her bare stomach perfectly for Shego to rain wet kisses on. Kim tangled her fingers in Shego's hair, trying to hold in any sound she was making. But of course, she was helpless to Shego's onslaught.

* * *

Kim sneezed for the thousandth time as they made their way down the mountain.

"Caught a cold?" Shego asked innocently. Kim shot her girlfriend a dirty look but couldn't keep it up for long.

'Girlfriend,' Kim smiled to herself. It was... nice. To be able to say it to herself, 'Shego's my girlfriend.'

Kim sneezed again. Shego stopped and sighed almost impatiently.

"I told you you should've worn a coat." Shego approached, quickly zipping Kim's jacket all the way up. "Why didn't you listen?"

"Hey, I got this cold NOT because I didn't wear enough. Its because SOMEONE," Shego forced herself to appear clueless, "decided that sex in the snow was such a smart idea."

"Hey, I wasn't the one who took off all her clothes," Shego pointed out.

"YOU took off my clothes!"

"Well, wasn't it fun?" Shego asked sweetly. The brunette took her scarf off and wrapped it around Kim's neck. When she was finished, she pecked a kiss on Kim's nose and grinned lopsidedly at Kim. "Anyways, I didn't hear you complain much when we were doing it."

"That's because--" Kim blushed, remembering exactly what she was doing with her mouth at that time.

"Yeah, that's right." Shego took Kim's hands, rubbing them vigorously between her own and breathing hot moist air on them. "Your hands are freezing."

"I forgot my gloves."

"Put this hand," Shego grabbed Kim's left hand and tucked it into Kim's pocket. "Here. And your other hand," Shego linked arms with Kim, took her right hand and tucked it into the pocket of her own coat. "You put in my pocket."

One thing Kim learned about Shego was that the brunette could be unbelievably sweet when she wanted to. They walked down the steps of Er Mei in silence, relishing each other's company. Because when they went to She Cun, they would have to seperate. Shego had made it clear to Kim that no-one was to know about their relationship.

"I'm not ashamed." Shego had assured Kim. "I'm not afraid if people find out. Its just... well, I'll be in trouble if they found out I'm being unprofessional."

"Unprofessional?"

"They would be afraid that with you around, I'd be distracted from my duty to Xaio Qing."

"Duty?" Kim remembered vaguely the conversation she had with Cheung when she had first arrived at She Cun... vaguely... her brow furrowed as Nam Ho's words came to her mind again. And it was as if recalling the monk wiped some of that fog away from her mind again. Duty. That word was important. Xaio Qing was dangerous. What was going on?

"Keeping house. Just, you have to do this for me, okay?"

Kim hadn't been able to resist Shego's request. Even if she thought it would have been great to be able to tell someone.

'Hi, I'm Kim. Oh, and this is my girlfriend, Shego.'

Her daydreams were rudely interrupted when Shego withdrew Kim's hand from her pocket and started walking a few steps in front of Kim.

"Shego--" Kim was about to ask why she had withdrawn, but someone calling Shego's name reached her ears.

"Shego!" Cheung was at the bottom of the steps, bundled up against the cold. The two walked towards each other, and what had started out as a handshake had turned into a tight embrace. When they finally let go, Kim could see tears of happiness squeezing out of the corners of Cheung's eyes. "Good to see you, Shego. Its been a long while."

"Not that long, right?" Shego smirked, but looked equally happy to see Cheung. She turned to Kim and motioned her forward. "You remember Kim Possible?"

"Hey, Cheung." Kim held out her hand. Cheung grabbed it and pulled the surprised Kim into a hug. She got over her astonishment and hugged him in return, feeling grateful for his friendship. Since the beginning, Cheung had been nothing but accomodating and supportive of her. Kim had missed Cheung, and though she loved holing up with Shego, she was really glad to see other people.

"Come on, lets go back home. Everybody's waiting to see the both of you!" Cheung grabbed the protesting Kim's bags, hefting them on to his shoulders. "Especially Ting Ting... and ah Fong."

Kim was sure, when Cheung had said Fong's name, the tone of Cheung's voice had changed. Kim tilted her head, catching Cheung's eye. He glanced at her and quickly looked away. Yes. Something was afoot. Cheung was definitely hiding something. And Shego was completely oblivious, of course.

"It'll be nice to see them again." Shego's teeth showed white in the sun. Kim tried to catch Shego's eyes, but the brunette was engrossed in her conversation with Cheung. Kim immediately noted the distance Shego put in between them, and even though Shego had warned her ahead of time, it still hurt a little. When they got to the SUV, Shego rode shotgun, and Kim sat in the back. The ride back was uneventful, and like the last few times they had gone back to She Cun, the village was out to greet them. Everybody was there, it seemed, except for Fong. Which Shego noticed immediately.

"Where's Michelle?" Shego, who was carrying Ting Ting, asked the little girl.

"At home with the baby!" Ting Ting replied.

Shego perked up at that. "Baby?"

Cheung, who had remained quiet reached out to put a steadying hand on Shego's forearm. "Baby, Shego." Suddenly, Shego looked short of breath, and she stared at Cheung as if he had just grown a horn. Her look of bewilderment prompted Cheung to answer her unspoken question. Cheung sighed, readily supplying it to her. "Mine and Fong's baby. Our son. You're just in time for his first month--"

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" Shego demanded, eyes flashing angrily. She handed Ting Ting over to Cheung. "Is she at home?"

"She is but..." Cheung sighed as Shego ran off before he could finish what he was going to say. "...she needs rest."

"Hey, congratulations." Kim said brightly. The redhead felt almost deliriously gleeful. When Shego had mentioned Fong, she hadn't realized she was feeling jealous until Shego had run off. The brunette was obviously distressed, and Kim felt guilty for being so happy... but she couldn't help it.

"She didn't want to talk to Shego or see her alone." Cheung tsked. "Now Fong's gonna give me hell."

* * *

"Fong!" The doors clattered open as Shego jumped over the high threshold of the house.

The bellow brought Fong racing from her bedroom out to Shego. Storming over to Shego, she jabbed a finger into Shego's chest, punctuating each word with a vicious poke. "Shut up! You wake him up and I'll kill you!" Furiously, she motioned for Shego to be quiet and follow her back to the bedroom. In the center of the bed, with pillows stacked up around the baby, just incase he rolled around; Fong's son slept peacefully. He stirred restlessly once, but didn't wake up as Shego regarded the child with a mixture of pain and hurt.

"What do you want?" Fong crossed her arms self-consciously as Shego's green eyes pierced her.

"When did this happen?" Shego sat down next to the baby, studying his features. Torturing herself by comparing his features to that of Cheung's and Fong's.

"He's a month old, do the math." Fong replied sarcastically, knowing she was hurting Shego. Knowing but not caring. She was just so angry! How dare Shego barge in like this! "Do you want to know details? When was he conceived? Where? What we did? Did I like it? Was he better than you?"

Each word had the desired effect, Fong could see Shego visibly trying to get a grip on her emotions. Seeing the hurt on Shego's face made Fong almost... she couldn't stay angry at the woman who was looking between her and the newborn helplessly.

"I loved you, Shego." Michelle sat opposite Shego and took the brunette's hands in her own. "You know that."

"Loved?" Shego asked hoarsely.

And against her better judgement, Fong corrected herself. "Still. I still do to some degree. But I was under the impression that I shouldn't wait around, Shego. And I didn't. Would you blame me?"

They fell silent.

"I," Fong licked her lips. "We really, REALLY shouldn't see each other like this anymore. We shouldn't be talking like this. Shouldn't--"

"--be doing a lot of things." Shego looked down at their twined hands helplessly. She did love Fong. Just... differently now. But she was so used to having Fong all to herself. To selfishly know that she was the first, the last, the only. She felt guilty for wanting this, for needing this. For selfishly wanting to have what they did. But just... not anymore. Shego looked at the baby and cracked a smile. "I'm glad you've moved on."

"Cheung's good to me." Fong said softly and Shego smiled at her ex. "So... in a way I have something. I have someone who loves me more than I love him. You, Shego, love yourself more than anything else," Fong squeezed Shego's hands to stop the green-eyed woman from protesting. "Don't lie. You know that I know its the truth."

Shego closed her mouth obediently and swallowed her protest. She brought Fong's hands to her lips and kissed them. They both jumped away from each other and looked up when they heard the door creak open. On being discovered, Kim gave the two women a wavering smile.

"Hey, Fong. Congratulations on the baby." Kim steadfastly refused to meet Shego's eyes.

"Thank you, Kim." Fong tilted her head to one side, looking at Kim thoughtfully. "I really like your haircut."

"Thanks. Shego cut it for me." Kim patted her hair self-consciously. "Well, I'll leave you two alone."

"Kimmie, wait--" Shego cursed under her breath as Kim left. Fong watched the proceedings, then gave Shego a strained smile.

"Seems to me like you've been kind of hypocritical, Shego. What's up with you and Kim?"

Shego flushed red, and cursed herself in her mind when she heard herself stammering. "N-Nothing! N-n-nothing's going on!"

"Right," Fong pushed Shego playfully. "Try pulling the other. Go after her before she gets too mad at you."

Shego got up immediately, but sat back down just as quickly. "This isn't what you think!"

"Maybe its you, maybe its her, maybe its the both of you," Fong shrugged. "Doesn't concern me."

"We'll talk about this later," Shego promised as she made for the door. Before she exited, she ran back to Fong, hands placed on the bed on either side of the woman. "Nothing is happening between us!"

"Right." Fong kept up a smile until Shego left that quickly turned into a pained grimace. Shego would always be a sore point in her life. The first person she had ever really loved so completely.

Shego had ran out of the house in search of Kim, who was already long gone and lost in the maze of passageways that was She Cun. But she would be able to find her wherever she was, now that Xaio Qing had gifted her... she turned slowly, facing each of the directions Kim might've headed off to. One had Kim's signature slowly drifting through it, and Shego could sense it, wafting towards her on the air currents. Heading off in that direction, it wasn't too long before she spotted the redhead, wandering through the village.

"Hey," Shego called out in English. Kim looked over her shoulder back at Shego, not stopping in her quest to get away from Shego. "Kimmie, hear me out--"

"I knew you still liked her." Kim said in English, as if to herself. "I knew it."

"We didn't do anything," Shego tried again, quickening her steps to keep up with Kim, still carrying on their conversation in English so none of the villagers would understand. "I just went to talk to her."

"I saw you kiss her hand, don't even try to deny that." Kim spun around, throwing that accusation at Shego.

'She's jealous,' Shego felt slightly miffed at that, but hugely flattered at Kim's misconception about Fong and herself.

"I kissed her hand, yes. But she's my friend. It was just... you know, issues from the past that will resurface now and again. She's a close friend, always will be. Nothing more. Ever." Shego ran in front of Kim and blocked her way, grinning. "You're jealous."

"Yeah?" Kim sniffed. "So?"

"That's cute." Shego smirked. "I swear, there's nothing between Fong and I now. I like you."

Kim's resolve to stay angry was fast melting in proportion to her urge to grin like an idiot. Steadying herself, Kim tried to ask Shego nonchalently, "Really?"

"Really." Shego chuckled. "Really, really."

Kim just couldn't help a small smile blossoming on her face. "You suck."

"So much." Shego agreed readily. "Let me make it up to you tonight."

Kim also couldn't help the blush that coloured her cheeks. But she managed to cross her arms and pull a scowl onto her face. "Oh, but I thought we're supposed to keep everything on the down low."

"We'll be in my house. We'll have privacy."

"Oh, but what if someone finds out? You're totally sleeping alone tonight." Kim switched back to Chinese, the language feeling much more familiar to her than English now. "Don't think I can't stay mad at you Shego. Don't test me."

Shego gaped as Kim brushed past her, then scowled at the faces that peeked out of their hiding places to watch her wide-eyed. The children. The machinations of She Cun's rumour mill. "Get out of here you little monsters! This is private! Private!"

The children ran away laughing hysterically at what they had heard. Sure, they had missed everything that was spoken in English. But they had totally understood what had been said in Chinese!

By night-time, everyone had heard how Kim had told off Shego and how they were fighting and still not getting along. All this was okay by Shego, who'd rather people think that they weren't getting along then that they were getting along too well. But the fact that there was a little bit of truth in the rumours and Kim was ignoring her was making her anxious.

"Oh, she's mad at you," Lo po-po teased Shego. Shego glared at the old woman. Kim engaged herself in animated conversation with whoever addressed her. But when Shego tried to talk to her, Kim was monosyllabic.

"What the hell..." Shego muttered under her breath.

Fong watched the proceedings with amusement and a little bit of confusion. Maybe she had read the situation wrong...? But she was sure Shego definitely had feelings for Kim. The dark-haired villainess was way too agitated not to be emotionally invested in the pretty redhead.

Fong sat with her young son, splitting the attention between Shego, Kim and Cheung. From her seat at the feast, she could see Cheung, head tilted, asking her silently if she was alright. He knew the effect Shego had on her, and she returned a genuine warm smile to him.

'I'm alright,' Fong mouthed the words. Cheung had been nothing but kind, considerate, loving and understanding. She was happy with him. Cheung grinned then turned back to accept the well-wishes of people on the one-month mark of the life of his son. Fong turned her attention to look at Shego, who was currently accepting a toast from some young men, tossing it back easily. Fong could easily see the covert glances Shego kept throwing at a certain redhead.

The young Chinese woman sighed as jealousy gnawed at her insides. Shego was not someone one could easily forget. A cry drew her attention to the babe in her arms, and the frown that she didn't know that had marred her brow smoothed out as she delighted in the tiny yawn her son was endulging in.

"Hello," Fong grinned down at those big brown eyes that regarded her curiously and cooed at her child.

* * *

Shego paced her room, looking at the plain white wall that seperated her room from Kim's. Kim had made good on her promise and refused to let Shego come anywhere near her. Which infuriated her to no end. The neighbors must have heard their fighting. Shego was furious. Kim seemed to be enjoying making a fool out of her!

'Who does she think she is!' Shego railed in her mind as she paced the length of her room. 'How can she bar me from a room in my own house!'

Shego paused to press her hand against the seperating wall and hissed in frustration.

The redhead that was the source of all of Shego's problems lay in bed, tossing and turning, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in while listening smugly to Shego's irritated movements. Kim had gotten so used to her bed at Er Mei that it felt impossible to sleep anywhere else! The mattress here was hard and lumpy and the room was foreign to her. And it was so cold... the braziers in her room would be kept burning in Er Mei, but not here. Here, she had to content herself with heavy blankets.

'Maybe I should've taken up Shego's offer,' Kim thought miserably, noting that Shego provided a lot of the warmth at night, pressed up against her and holding her close in a relaxed embrace. The heroine meant to teach the fiery woman a lesson, but unfortuantely, Kim was suffering for her stubborness.

'Dumb, dumb, dumb...' Just as Kim was about to throw in the towel and run over to Shego's room, the sound of her door opening made her pause and quickly feign sleep. The soft sound of breathing tipped her off that there was someone in her room... Kim held her breath as the door clicked shut. There was quiet for a while. Then Kim almost jumped as a voice croaked out her name softly.

"Kim?" Shego asked. She watched the redhead sleeping, breathing even. The redhead looked as if being apart from her was nothing to her, while Shego had stayed awake, cold and entrenched in that feeling of... lacking when she tried to sleep. Shego tried again. "Kim."

Kim rolled over, ignoring the green-eyed villainess, feeling outraged.

'That spoiled brat!' Kim thought in disbelief. 'She's actually trying to wake me up even though she thinks I'm sleeping!'

The annoyance faded when she was suddenly chilled as the blankets were lifted. Kim curled in on herself and let out an involuntary shiver at the cold, but quickly warmed when Shego's body pressed into her back and arms pulled her as close as possible.

"Shego?" Kim faked a sleepy voice. "What are you doing?"

"Sleeping." Shego grunted noncommittally. Burrowing into the blankets, Shego dropped a kiss on the back of Kim's neck, her voice softening. "Go back to sleep."

"Shego," Kim turned to face Shego and hugged Shego close, feeling those black lips touching her forehead, her earlobe, her lips. Dropping tiny affections all over Kim's face until she felt as warm as if a hundred braziers were burning in the sparse room.

"Go to sleep, Kimmie. I got you." Shego's voice was wispy, as if on the cusp of sleep.

"Mmm..." Kim made a sound of contentment and sighed. Hands snaked up the back of Shego's pajama top, the feel of smooth skin underneath Kim's hand was soothing and oh so good. Breathing in Shego's scent, Kim sighed once more before sleep claimed her as quickly as it had claimed Shego.

Outside the house, a dog snuffled at the door excitedly. Biting back his urge to make some sound to express his happiness, he scratched at the door experimentally, wondering if they would let him in. But there were no sounds of movement within the house. He knew what to do, though. He had been trained spectacularly well. He had just come back from his master, but this was important. His master would PRAISE him for leading him to what he seeked! And maybe, just maybe, he'd get a milkbone for this!

At that thought, Tigger wagged his tail furiously and his trotting pace broke into a run.

* * *

Okay, as most of you might've suspected... yes, I was totally lazy this chapter and didn't want to think too much. So meaningless fluff is great. :D Dun worry guys, this'll all be over soon. 


	25. Dancing Fish

Dancing Fish

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M?

* * *

Ghostly green flames licked the tips of Shego's fingertips. Snapping her fingers, the tea candles placed around the bath ignited in green fire, then quickly subsided and was engulfed by the common orange flame.

"Show off." Kim grinned from her place in the water. Submerged to her neck, she watched Shego slip into the water soundlessly. These past few months had been so sweet. Their relationship took some getting used to, with both of them trying to find their comfort zone. The first few months of their relationship was not smooth sailing, to say the least. Sure, there were times when both of them were right there in that spot where they both enjoyed this relationship and never wanted it to end. There were other times when they would fight and argue with each other horribly and they both wondered what they had gotten themselves into. They had come a long way.

"Shove a bum, princess." Shego sat down next to Kim. Giving an exaggerated yawn, she stretched out her arms and placed one innocently around Kim's shoulders. The redhead smirked at the pale-skinned woman and leaned against Shego, sighing contently.

Kim found out a lot about Shego as she travelled a whole new territory with Shego. The relationship was constantly changing as they reached different stages. The first stage was all heated passion and blazing emotions, where the lovers tried their best to accomodate each other. But then came the fights, as they drew inexplicably closer. Both were to blame as Kim revelled in this closeness and Shego seemed to be deathly afraid of it to the point where she started isolating Kim again. Their way of working things out always resulted in violence and sex. And when they lay there in the aftermath of their destruction, sweaty, naked and clinging on to each other, they both wondered if it was worth it.

One wondered why she ever started this in the first place when she grappled with her own demons. At the end of the day, she didn't know what sacrifices she'd be making...

The other wondered if this was how a normal relationship worked, constantly fighting and bickering. But what about their relationship was normal? What was normal anyways?

And they clung to each other, each with their own selfish and selfless reasons.

Right now, they were at that stage where the fights were at a minimum and these times could be filed under the heading 'good times'.

Kim nuzzled Shego's chin with her nose and Shego dipped down to graze the redhead's lips with a kiss.

"So you wanna tell me what's been bothering you recently?" Shego asked.

Kim twined her fingers in Shego's, appreciating her lover's concern. Months ago, Shego would not have bothered asking. It was only after a lot of fights, a lot of long talks and a lot of compromising that they had come to this stage.

_"So when you're upset, I'm just supposed to guess why you're upset!" Shego threw up her hands in exasperation. "I'm not a mind reader, Kimmie. I can't just find out whether its something I did that's gotten you angry or if you're pms-ing again!" _

"This is why I'm always angry at you!" Kim tried her best to keep her voice down, but it was so hard as Shego scowled at her. "You never make the effort! You see that I'm upset but you don't give me any support--"

"What do you want me to do?" Shego asked, grabbing Kim's hands in her own. She fumbled with them furiously, impatiently. Impatient because she didn't know how to make it better. "I just thought that the best thing to do was let you deal with whatever yourself."

"Ask me, if that's what I want, Shego." Kim squeezed Shego's hands. "Shego, I just thought you didn't care..."

"Do you have to hear the words?" grumbled Shego. The fighting was over as quickly as it started. "You know I... care about you. Just. I don't know how to deal with you, Kim."

"When in doubt, ask." Kim teased. "You know I'll try my best to answer all your questions, Shego."

After all that, stressing to Shego that she would be as straight-forward and honest with her as possible, Kim was doing the opposite. But this was something she didn't want to to tell Shego about. Really didn't. This was something Kim wanted to figure out for herself.

"Its nothing, really."

"Alright." Shego's reply made Kim wince a bit. She knew the tone of that voice. Shego was bothered.

"Its really nothing." Kim reiterated and kissed a smile on to Shego's lips. They had come a long way, but both approached the subject of Kim's family carefully. Contact with them was forbidden. And going to the outside world was a subject that just wasn't touched. Kim didn't even mention to Shego how much she missed them. After Nam Ho revealed to her her brothers and her friends were nearby, she had tried to bury that need to see them. But it screamed in the back of her mind. Now more than ever. Everytime she was happy with Shego, she wanted to share it with someone, and that brought up the memory of her friends and family.

"Okay. I'm getting wrinkly. That's enough soaking for me." Kim tried to get up but was quickly pulled back into Shego's arms.

"Aw, you leaving so quickly?" Shego teased as a ticklish Kim squirmed in her arms, laughing. "Stay with me for a while."

"No, no, seriously, I'm getting sooo water-logged." Kim pushed away shyly. "See you later?"

"You bet your sweet ass on that." Shego tried on a southern drawl for size and slapped Kim's ass good-naturedly as the redhead climped out.

"Fresh!" Kim mock-gasped and splashed some water on Shego. The dark-haired woman laughed and swam off to the middle of the bath.

"Gonna make me pay, Kimmie?"

"Maybe later." Kim smiled. Deaf to Shego's jeers, she left the bathing area. Soon as she closed the door, the smile fled from her lips and she breathed out a sigh of relief. Slipping into a silken robe that clung to her wet body, Kim slowly made her way to her room while towelling off her short hair. Though it was winter outside, it was somehow significantly warmer within the house and she didn't mind that short walk to her room which she knew would be toasty warm from the lit braziers. Kim watched the bath house doors for a few seconds just to make sure Shego wasn't coming before ducking back into the warmth of her room and closing the doors firmly.

It was late winter. Since Fong's son's one month, Shego and Kim had visited the village numerous times. It was on one of those visits that Kim encountered Tigger. She Cun's residents knew the smart dog as Blackie, but Kim knew better.

Kim went into her closet and riffled through her underwear drawer. Shego didn't go into her closet for any reason whatsoever. New clothes for Kim would be placed on the bed waiting for the redhead to put away. So the closet would be the last place Shego would go into. With trembling hands, she retrieved a small roll of paper from the back of the drawer. Unravelling it, her eyes scanned over the words and she could feel the onset of tears.

_For the eyes of Kim Possible only. Meet the newest member of the Possible family. His name is Tigger and he will obey all your commands. Please send missives through Tigger._

It was when Kim was alone at She Cun in Shego's house, trying to mend one of her shirts when the dog had shuffled in cautiously. Spying her, he ran forward and dropped a tiny wooden tube in front of her.

"What's this, Blackie?" Kim chuckled, recognizing the affectionate dog. It had stuck by her everytime she was in Er Mei and had even won Shego's affections.

Picking up with tube, she could see it was some kind of container... with a careful twist, the tube split in half and a tightly rolled piece of paper fell out.

_We're here to save you._

Each word in 'We're here to save you' was written by a different person. Monique's elegeant scrawl. Jim's tight handwriting, so different from easy-going Tim's. Ron's messy 'save'. Rufus' barely legible 'you'.

_Girl, if you can, make your way to the exits! Seems like we can't get in!_

Last line was written all by Monique. The note was short, with only those couple of lines written on the tiny scrap of paper. It was different when Nam Ho told her that her family and friends were here; different from actual proof, actual writing from their hands. They were here for her. What should she do? They were about half way through her second year here. Only a year and a half more with Shego and she could leave. It scared her slightly when a voice in the back of her head asked her if she really wanted to leave... Was it wrong to like this time she spent with Shego? Sure, it was hard work almost everyday as Shego pushed her to the limits. But it was fun. So much fun. Away from the hustle and bustle of life as a superhero, as world saviour. Away from school, friends, politics, life. She understood why some people who had left the village would come back. Everything here was easy. They were provided for. There was no lack of food, no poverty. Everybody seemed happy here. There were no cares.

Kim was suddenly aware of Shego's approach, and quickly stuffed the scrap of paper back into the drawer and closed her closet hurriedly. Her intuition was right as Shego knocked on the door before letting herself in.

"Are you going to stay awake?" Shego headed straight towards the bed, shivering as she shed her heavy overcoat. Kim watched in amusement as Shego burrowed under the covers. "Its so cold!"

"Its boiling in here," Kim replied with amusement.

"Says you." Shego was barely keeping her teeth from chattering. Kim approached, a bit worried at how pale Shego looked. Well, the woman's skin was normally pale. But it was paler than usual right now. And her dark lips had lightened to a bluish tinge.

"Come on," Kim slipped under the sheets and felt alarmed when she touched Shego. The woman felt almost ice-cold! "God, you're freezing!"

"I've been trying to tell you this the whole time," Shego pressed her nose against Kim's neck, drawing out a shiver from Kim. She quickly withdrew. "Sorry. You're cold--"

"Not as cold as you." Kim pulled Shego back into her arms. Shego was so very proud. And stubborn. She tried her best not to act soft, or when she did, she would do it covertly. But Kim was always aware of those times when Shego did those things that showed Kim she cared. The redhead only pushed Shego to say it because she selfishly wanted those words too, even though the actions were enough. She wanted everything from Shego. And Shego was slowly giving her everything.

"How could I even think about leaving you?" Kim whispered when Shego had fallen asleep, curled around Kim. How could Shego survive without Kim? Shego had brought her here for reasons, some which Kim didn't know. One thing Kim was sure of was that Shego needed her here. The note's message and the senders were vanquished from her mind as Shego tightened her embrace around Kim briefly, mumbled incoherently before slipping deeper into slumber.

"I'm here, Shego." Kim planted a kiss on the older woman's forehead. "I'm here."

* * *

"Maybe the message was intercepted?" Drakken rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "How long has it been?"

"A couple months," Jim spat out. Monique reached over and put a hand on the young teen's back. "No luck. She should have. Tigger still comes and goes as he pleases. I would think that they'd... kill him if they found out."

They were in enemy territory. Jim knew the risks of sending his beloved pet into these situations. But to get Kim back... he was confident in Tigger's abilities. He would risk it because he knew.

"She musta gotten our message," Monique reassured. "Maybe she just can't get a reply out. Maybe Tigger dropped the message."

Jim shook his head. "My puppy knows better than that."

"Its true." Tim sat by Ron. Gathered in the meeting room of Team Possible's HQ, they all had a cup of 'cocoa-moo-moo' that Drakken had thoughtfully made for everyone. He was an excellent secretary/receptionist.

"Maybe Rufus--"

"No, Ron." Jim's voice was strained. He had been under a lot of stress lately. The bad guys, as they were want to do, always seemed to come out at the most inconvenient times. And always in droves. There would be a calm for a while, and then they would crawl out of the woodworks. How did Kim deal with this? And even though they've been doing this for a year and some now (has it been that long?), they still got no respect from the underworld. Even beaten, they would make fun of them and ask them where their precious Kim Possible was. As the leader of the group, Monique had to keep professional and keep a tight reign on her anger. It was a tough enough job. Some times, she almost gave in. Some times, she thought of how easy it was to lash out and not have to pull back. But holding Jim back put things into perspective for her. She couldn't lose control. She was the adult here. She was mature. Kim wouldn't manhandle the criminals. She would deliver them to the authorities. So Monique did what she knew Kim would do.

But goddamn it was hard!

Ron sat in his seat sullenly. Since the new Team Possible, he rarely did much. Sure, sometimes on missions he was a great distraction. But with Kim, he was an integral and much-needed member. Him and Rufus. But with two Possibles doing the job, he hardly got to do anything. And it really bothered him, as Kim's best friend, that he was pushed to the sidelines. Even though he tried not to be, he was a bit resentful of Jim's authority in the group. Everybody had a set job! Even Drakken!

"I could do something--"

"No." Jim shook his head tersely and stalked out of the room before anybody could stop him.

"Yo, Ron." Tim placed a companionable arm around Ron's shoulders sympathetically. "Don't worry man, we got this handled. Why don't I get Wade to get someone and take you home? You've been missing a lot of classes--"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Ron shrugged off Tim's arm angrily.

"Ron--"

"Monique, don't." Ron snapped. He had finally reached that point where he couldn't take this anymore. "Rufus, come on, we're not needed here."

The small pink animal jumped into Ron's pocket quickly, knowing his owner had been pushed too far. The young freckled man made it a few steps towards the exit before he turned back angrily. That line had finally been crossed. "You guys think you're the only ones who miss her, you think you're the only ones who care, who-who-who," Ron was so angry he was stuttering. He had to stop to gather himself.

"Ron--"

"No!" Ron shook his head furiously. "Don't you DARE tell me to be calm! I've been calm for the longest time! She's my best friend! She might be your sister, she might be your friend, but I was closest to her! We went on missions together! We dated for a while! She's my best friend! You guys forget that! And-and..." Ron took a deep shuddering breath, on the edge of tears. "I feel so fucking useless. You guys make me feel so fucking useless. Thanks a lot. I know I'm being selfish here, but you guys aren't the only ones hurting."

Ron left the speechless team. The remaining members exchanged glances amongst each other. Tim was the first to move, about to run after Ron. Monique held up a hand, stopping him in his tracks.

"Let Ron go." Monique sighed. "He needs some time alone."

Tim looked at the exit then back at Monique questioningly.

"The buffoon... is right." Drakken held his mug in both hands. "You guys have been pushing him to the side."

"There's nothing he can do." Monique said helplessly.

"Every sidekick needs direction, something to do." Drakken said sagely. "Lend him to me. He can help around HQ."

"Thanks, Dr. D." Monique sighed.

Dr Drakken gave a sad nostalgic smile. "Say that again."

"Thanks?"

"After that."

"Dr. D?"

Drakken smiled. "Thank you, Monique."

* * *

It was so cold... so cold...

Shego grit her teeth in a grin as she watched Kim doing her exercises. On top of her pole, Kim spotted Shego and gave an excited wave. Shego waved back and watched as Kim continued her training.

'She's good,' Shego's eyes studied Kim's stance. The redhead was centered, her arms spread at the correct length and moved in the prescribed path and speed called for. The pole exercises trained not only your balance and dexterity, but also the inner strength one needed that could only be attained by the mind-numbing almost meditative state that repetitive exercise promoted. Only in that state could that gift that Xaio Qing had placed inside Kim, grow. Slowly, of course. Without the right direction, the gift would slumber, wouldn't be used except maybe unconsciously, uncontrolled. Hidden. Useless.

Shego shivered again, fearful of that niggling thought in the back of her mind and the exhaustion that arrested her body. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't help thinking that she should be hibernating... she just couldn't get warm by herself.

"Hey, do two more rounds and then come up for dinner, k?" Shego shouted up, the cold finally too much for her to handle.

"Alright!"

Shego struggled up the snow-slick steps on one side of Er Mei back to Xaio Qing's house. She felt like her feet and fingers were falling off and just barely managed to step over the threshold before she collapsed onto the floor. A weak flick of her hands closed the door behind her.

"God..." Shego curled in on herself, shivering so hard it hurt. But the house was considerably warmer than outside. Courtesy of a remant spell from long ago that had not been renewed by Xaio Qing. Shego had only found out about the spell after she commented once on the difference in temperature. Outside the walled dwelling, it could be cold as hell, but inside the walls, it was considerably warmer even though the house was very open concept. At full strength, the temperature within the garden would never drop below that of a warm spring day.

Urging her sluggish limbs to pick themselves off the floor, Shego made her way to the kitchen. She had lit a fire a while ago in the wood stove. It had died down a bit, but nothing a few more pieces of firewood couldn't cure. When the kitchen felt like a furnace, Shego finally shed her coats and leaned close to the stove in relief as the cold was finally banished from her bones and a boiling anger replaced it.

"GOD DAMN IT!" Her fist swept out, knocking over pots and pans on the wooden table that served as both preperation area and chopping board. "FUCK!" A fist pounded on that heavy table and it cracked under the force of the woman's strength.

"Fuck..." Shego said more quietly.

Spring was just around the corner, Shego could smell it. Soon, Xaio Qing would be stirring from her rest. But she still had a good month or so, but she was going to be cautious and pull that deadline back two weeks. So two weeks. Shego planned to make the most of it. She looked around the kitchen and sighed. First, she had to clean up the mess she'd made.

"Goddamn." Shego swore under her breath before rolling up her sleeves and getting to work. She had made a mess. The responsible thing to do was clean up.

It was getting dark when Kim headed back to the house, taking the steps two at a time, the thought of Shego making her dinner pushed her to quicken her already fast pace. Even if Shego didn't think she noticed, Kim did notice. The headstrong woman had probably gotten sick in this weather, she had been shivering so much... Shego would never admit to it so Kim didn't bother pointing it out.

'Honestly, sometimes she's just so stubborn.' Kim thought fondly of her lover. The dining room was empty, which meant Shego was still in the kitchen. Sneaking along the wall, she peeked into the dark recesses of the furnace-like cooking area.

"Babe, one more second." Without turning around, Shego knew Kim was there.

"What are you cooking?" Kim entered, feeling a bit disappointed that she couldn't surprise her girlfriend. Shego put the lid back on the pot of foodstuff she had been stirring before and gave the young woman a cheeky grin.

"You'll see." Kim began to pout, but Shego saw it coming and quickly turned around. The best defense against that look was to not be caught in it. "Don't even try it. This is part of the surprise I have planned."

"Surprise?" Shego cursed as she realized she had just signed and sealed her own fate. Kim would NOT leave her alone now. That thing about 'curiousity killing the cat'? Well, if Kim were that proverbial cat, she would've used up her nine lives LONG time ago. If there was one thing Shego had learned about Kim in their time together, it was that the woman was insatiatably curious. And she wouldn't rest until she knew what the surprise was. Like the time Shego had secretly gotten a really nice cheong-sam dress made for Kim and Ting Ting had let slip that Shego had a surprise for her. Kim had hounded the poor child until the girl burst into tears; torn by her duty as confidante to Shego which required her to ferociously guard the secrets the pale-skinned woman imparted on her, and to please Kim Possible.

Presently, Shego didn't have the benefits of Ting Ting's tears to keep Kim away. She stiffened as arms wrapped around her waist from behind and Kim pressed herself against Shego's back enticingly.

"Sheeego..." That soft wheedling voice in her ear made the villainess shudder. "What do you have planned for me?"

"Kimmie," Shego growled warningly.

"What?" was Kim's playful reply.

Shego turned around, careful of the hot stove behind her. "You wanna know?"

"Yes," Kim's answer was followed by a gasp of surprise as Shego advanced, backing her up against the heavy wooden kitchen table, lifting her on it and pinning her down. Kim grinned up at Shego, eyes wide with pleasure. She had grown accustomed to Shego's spontaneity, and even if she would never admit it to keep up the pretense of modesty; Kim was starting to love it. Especially when Shego was being dominating, like she was now.

"Well, you can't." Shego said gruffly.

"No?" Kim used her legs to urge Shego on top of her, locking her ankles behind Shego's back so she couldn't escape. She knew exactly what Shego was trying to do. Distracting her. And it was working mighty well. Kim loved ruining surprises. Loved it. She was one of those people who would go on the internet and look up spoilers for her favourite episodes. Or use the x-ray goggles a certain boy genius had given her to find out what was beneath the wrappings of her Christmas presents. Kim loved spoilers. But she loved Shego even more.

* * *

The dinner had been great. All of Kim's favourite foods were laid out for her. Shego had taken extra care to cook only the best for her. And, sated, Shego had motioned for Kim to sit with her on the dias.

"What's going on?" Kim asked curiously.

"You'll see." Was Shego's mysterious answer. Her question was answered quickly as a wide sweep of Shego's arm suddenly cleared the place of dishes and mess.

"How did you do that!" Kim gaped. Then her eyes narrowed accusingly. "Why don't you do that every night instead of making me clean up?"

Shego smiled mysteriously. Clapping her hands, the room suddenly dimmed, then suddenly brightened as if a flashbang had exploded in the room. There were eight beautiful Chinese girls there, dressed in bare costumes, wisps of silk that showed just enough to make your imagination run wild. An anklet was worn on each of their ankles, and several charms and small bells hung from the simple ornamental jewelry. Besides that, they wore nothing else. Their bodies, supple, oiled and ready; were poised to begin whatever Shego had planned.

"Who...?" Before she could get out the question, music played by unseen musicians started and the girls began their dance. Slow, slow, arms and fingers spread out, they moved in synchronized conformity as the music played, the sound of heavy drums overwhelming for a few seconds. Suddenly, the dancers stamped their foot down, setting the charms and tiny bells on their anklet jangling in a cacophony of tinkling soungs that melded well with the dance and the music.

"This is a date," Shego grinned, pleased that Kim watched the dancers with rapt attentiveness. "I thought a little treat now and again would be good. Just so you're not bored with just me here to keep you company."

"Don't even think that." Kim tore her eyes from the dancers to capture Shego's lips with her own. A sweet, thankful kiss for this wonderful spectacle. "Being with you is the best."

They grinned at each other, pleased. Then settled back into each other's arms to watch the dancers who hadn't paused in their performance and moved with a fluidity that was almost not human. Their delicate feet, stamping on the floor to produce that jangling musical beat, the calm motions reminded her of the carp swimming in the small stream that criss-crossed the courtyard outside...

"They're really good!" Kim commented appreciatively. The compliment wasn't missed by the dancers, and the lead dancer, cast lidded eyes at Kim, who froze under that gaze.

"Oh, I think she heard you." Shego laughed and nodded to the dancer, giving her permission to approach. Draped in orange silk, she approached, weaving an intricate dance that was both shy but teasing. If there was one way of describing her dance-style, it was... cock-teasing at its best. A bared leg here, flirtatious glances there, and one time the orange-clad dancer reached forward to quickly trail her fingers down Kim's thigh.

"Yowza," Kim shuddered at the erotic touch.

"Yowza?" Shego laughed, but her eyes narrowed at the dancing woman. Too close. Shego had a possessive streak in her, there was just never an opportunity for her to exercise it, but now there was. The lead stepped back into the line of dancers without missing a beat, laughing at the look Shego gave her.

"Hun?" Kim's voice brought Shego's scowling face down to look at Kim and she was surprised by a kiss. Getting over her surprise, Shego returned it enthusiastically.

"What was that for?"

"Reassurance. You have nothing to be jealous about."

Shego tightened her grip around Kim's shoulders as Kim relaxed back into her arms. "I'm not jealous."

"Right." Kim rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, the doors burst open and armour clad men, eight altogether, rolled in. A group of four first, then the next group of four. The dancers parted, squealing in fear as the men looked about. Theatrical make-up made bold marks across their scowling faces as they stomped to the middle of the dance floor, apparently part of the elaborate performance Shego was orchestrating. They carried drums, slung across their backs and shoulders and held oddly shaped drum sticks, almost sickle-shaped. That solved the mystery of the disembodied drums that had accompanied the dancers.

With a bow-legged swagger, the leader of this troupe stomped forward, each step making the red-orange armour on his back shake. He beat his drums in two quick strokes, then all the male dancers simultaneously stomped one foot on the floor and held up one sickle-shaped drum stick in the beginning pose of their performance.

"Wow." Kim breathed out as all the dancers burst into motion, the women and the men melding into a dance. That was both passionate and powerful.

Sometimes words were not enough. Sometimes words fell embarassingly short.

'I can't believe the best words I could think of to describe this is passionate and powerful.' Kim was glad Shego couldn't read her thoughts. She could imagine her girlfriend making fun of her. Fifty years down the road, when they were old women, she could totally see Shego bringing it up again. 'Oh, Kimmie, look at that! Its passionate and powerful!' Followed by snarky laughter.

Caught up in the thought of older Shego making fun of her, Kim pinched Shego childishly.

"Ow!" Shego turned a wide-eyed gaze at Kim. "What was that for!"

"That was for being dumb." Kim said mysteriously, letting Shego flounder in her confusion.

"What?"

"Nothing." Kim decided to change the subject. "Where did these people come from?"

"People?" Shego's tone was casual. "Who said they were people?"

Kim turned to stare at Shego. "What do you mean?"

"Meet the carps that swim in the courtyard."

"The... the fish!"

"Transformed. Like Xaio Qing is." Shego explained patiently. "They can't do it all the time, of course. I... encouraged them a little. The fact that they can dance instead of flopping around on the floor like fish out of water; that they can create music instead of gasping for air, is that I made it so. They are human now because I force them to be. Once they become fish again, they lose everything that was associated with this form. Their thoughts won't be human anymore."

"That's... strange."

"Er Mei is a strange place."

The two fell into silence as they watched the dancers. Kim watched with utter fascination now. Carp? Were they really the carp that Kim some times fed?

"So... Xaio Qing..." Now that Shego had brought it up, Kim finally asked. Their master--more Shego's than Kim's--was shrouded in obscure fiction. "She's really a...a..."

"A really, REALLY big snake."

They settled again to watch the show, as Kim contemplated this new tidbit of information. She had been told... but it was something else when Shego waved her hand and the dancers all started shrinking, molding, until they were fish. Kim recognized them all. Feeding them, she had come to recognize them by the markings on their back. These WERE the carp in the stream... Shego clapped her hands twice and they disappeared, supposedly back into the stream they came from.

A really... REALLY big snake...

It was like talking to Nam Ho again. She was suddenly hit with the gravity of living in the house of a snake. A demon.

"Come on." Shego tugged her up. "Lets go take a bath, then we'll go to bed."

A lot of preparation had gone into Shego's romantic evening. The bath was lit up by the soft glow of coloured candles that dotted the room, some floating in lotus boats on top of the waters, melting in the corners of the room or burning quietly on the edge of the water. Flower petals, hard to come by in the cold weather, had been strewn over the water.

"Oh my god, Shego..." Kim's eyes grew wide with delight. "Did you do all of this?"

Shego held Kim from behind and kissed her girlfriend's pale shoulder. "Damn right I did. Took a hell of a long time too. So lets not just stand around admiring it."

After their wash, Kim and Shego decided to just soak. All through this, Shego had a frown on her face.

"What's wrong?" Kim finally asked.

"Well... Just.. I have something to ask you."

Kim felt a trickle of trepidition.

"So this whole night, you had an ulterior motive to this?" Kim asked calmly.

Shego knew to tread lightly. When Kim was right on the edge of being relaly pissed off, she sounded very much like this. "No. Sorta. Not really? A little bit."

"Which one is it, Shego?" The way Kim enunciated her name at the end of the question made the dark-haired woman wince.

'Might as well get it over with.' Shego thought. Taking a deep breath, she blurted out everything she had to say. "Xaio Qing's coming back soon. And I need us to take a break from... 'us'."

Shego knew that look was coming but couldn't help feeling extremely horrible when Kim directed the full force of her hurt expression at Shego.

"Just until she goes back into hibernation again." Shego reassured. "Pumpkin, please. I want to be with you, but its risky with Xaio Qing around. She accepts us as disciples only when we follow her rules. If we don't--" Shego stopped there, cutting herself off before she could say anything more. "Just, she wouldn't be happy."

"What are you afraid of?" Kim's hurt look changed to one of determination and worry. A look Shego had seen many times before back when Kim was in high school. The look Kim always had on her face when she was on one of her world-saving missions. Determined to save, determined to solve. She was Kim Possible, she could do anything.

'Not everything, princess. I wish you could. But you can't.' Shego thought sadly. Her Kim was a woman who was used to taking care of people. But she didn't even know what she was up against. She's never seen Xaio Qing in all of her horrible glory. Never seen Xaio Qing's insane rage. Never understood Xaio Qing. And she never would. Or if she actually managed to, it would be far too late.

"Just do this for me."

Kim caught a floating lantern and concentrated on the light emitting from the candle in the middle of the cleverly constructed floating decoration.

"When is she coming back?"

"To be safe, I'm moving back to my room in two weeks." Shego whispered.

Kim nodded emotionlessly, still looking at the flickering candle. "Fine." She was concentrating so hard on the candle that surprisingly, tears were dripping out of her eyes.

"Kim," Shego cradled Kim's face, stroked back errant locks of wet hair away from Kim's eyes. "Don't cry. Princess, please... I love you."

Kim turned shining eyes at Shego. Did she hear wrong?

"Say it again."

"Don't cry?" Shego teased. Kim slapped her lightly on the arm and pouted. "Ow! Alright, alright." Banishing the grin on her face, she kissed each of Kim's eyelids then rested her forehead against Kim's. "I love you, Kim Possible."

"Once more."

"I love you, Kim Possible." Shego said again, breaking into toothy smile. Kim hugged Shego close and laughed out of pure joy as Shego rained eager kisses down on Kim's brow, her cheeks, her lips, her eyes; every inch of her exposed face. The redhead had never felt so overwhelmed with the urge to cry from happiness.

"You finally said it." Kim brushed her thumb across Shego's lower lip.

"Yeah. I did," Shego drawled, suddenly nervous and chewing her bottom lip. "Just waiting for a ditto?"

Kim's smile changed to a mischevious one. "Maybe you'll have to wait."

"What! Why!"

"Because we're on a break, baby." Kim kissed Shego.

"In two weeks! Not now!"

"Well, you can wait, can't you?" Kim smirked. Shego swam away from Kim, who followed Shego, laughing happily. "Come on! Shego, its only until Xaio Qing goes back into hibernation!"

"I take back that 'I love you'." Shego grumbled.

"Oh, don't be such a grouch, Shego." Kim caught Shego around the waist and pressed her lips against her lover's ear, eliciting a shiver from the dark-haired woman. "Come on. I'm DYING to see what you have planned for me in the bedroom."

Shego's face finally split in an evil grin at the thought of the other surprise she had planned. "You're going to be DYING to tell me you love me after tonight."

"Oh?" Kim let herself be carried out of the water. On the way out, Kim grabbed a large towel and draped it over the both of them. "What do you have planned?"

"You'll see," Shego chuckled. As the doors to the baths closed behind them, the candles in the room all snuffed out automatically.

* * *

end: Yo. That was so long. Done this chapter, and I dunno if I said it before, but we're fast approaching the end. :D Who's happy? ME! This took so frickin' long and its my longest work ever. I got stories floating around that are all half-finished (I'll finish them some time soon!), and this one looks like it'll be my only completed one. Ever. lol. 


	26. Xaio Qing Returns!

Xaio Qing Returns!

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - M?

beginning notes: Yo, happy holidays. A little gift for y'all... Ahahah. Here's chapter 26. What's funny is that I'm done chapter 27 already and chapter 28 is started. :D I'm just not posting them any time soon! BWAHAHA! Sorry if everything's getting squished together, feedback is nice on this chapter. Its like a change in pace.

* * *

Kim hugged the pillow close to her and sighed. Shego. She knew things were going to change once Xaio Qing came back. But that didn't mean she had to like it. Two week before Xaio Qing even stirred, Shego had moved back to her own room. Kim took a deep breath of the pillow she held, hoping that it hid some of Shego's scent. But Shego had made sure she washed everywhere from top to bottom, replaced sheets and pillows, obsessively looked for any trace of their relationship that she had failed to erase.

"Just a break, princess. Just this little break until Xaio Qing sleeps again." Shego had promised.

She was jealous and she was lonely. Kim had to bite her tongue from asking Shego.

Are you cheating?

Do you love her more than me?

Why don't we just tell her?

So many questions. And she had absolutely no answers.

"No matter what happens when she's here, Kimmie. You have to remember this: Never ever even HINT at a relationship between the two of us. I know its unfair, I know its hard. But you have to." Shego had kissed those frowns off of Kim's face. "Be obedient. When you're obedient, she's more predictable. Don't get angry when she's too comfortable with me, its just her nature and being jealous would just arouse her suspicion. Please, Kim. I know it's going to be hard for you. Don't ever doubt that it's hard for me too."

Things had changed from last year. There was a sense of urgency in the air. And Shego and Xaio Qing seemed to be... disagreeing. Kim had thought there was some tension between the usually obedient first disciple of Xaio Qing and the loving snake demoness master as soon as Xaio Qing had quit her hibernation. The redhead had confirmed that when she accidentally came upon the two arguing the morning Shego left unexpectedly.

"You are changing your mind all the time, Shego." Xaio Qing hissed. It was early in the morning. Kim had woken up earlier than she had planned to and was going to help Shego make breakfast, to try and steal some precious few moments alone with her. It had only been a day since Xaio Qing had arrived. Master and disciple were on the small bridge, arguing with each other.

"I was wrong. I want to be with you."

"I... Shego..." Xaio Qing faltered, lips trembling like she was on the brink of tears. One moment disapproving adult. The next moment, a confused child. But she quickly shook out of it. A hand shot out, holding Shego's arm in a vice-like grip that made Shego wince and cry out slightly. "You're always like this, Shego. You always make me feel so... so... confused." Her voice went from angry to pained.

"Xaio Qing," Shego's voice was firm and she put a steadying hand on her master's shoulder. "Let go. You're hurting me..."

Shego was immediately released.

"Xaio Qing--"

"Why do you have to make this harder than it already is?" Xaio Qing asked miserably. "I have offered you everything, Shego. I have tried my best to make you happy. I have finally gotten to deal with the fact that you might--" The Chinese demoness shook her head again, like an animal shaking off water. "I have to draw the line somewhere, Shego. You can not just keep asking things of me. Changing your mind. Expect me to comply."

Shego looked torn. She glanced away and caught sight of Kim, peeking at them from her doorway. "Kim!"

Too late to hide, Kim opened the door to her room and smiled at the two, trying to play it as if she hadn't heard their argument. "Good morning, Xaio Qing. Shego. You guys are up early!"

"Why waste the day, right?" Xaio Qing smiled benevolently at Kim, and from her vantage point, the redhead could see Shego's jaw clench in an unconscious show of displeasure. "Shego needs to get a head start if she is to start out to She Cun."

"What?"

"Yes." Xaio Qing said with a small smile. "She will go. She is distracting, is she not?" Xaio Qing trailed a knuckle down the side of Shego's smooth face. Kim tried her best to keep a straight face at this show of affection. This show of... ownership. Xaio Qing's hold over Shego. Kim's insides churned with jealousy, even with Shego's reassurances in mind.

"You and I, we will have some time alone." Xaio Qing's eyes caught Kim's, and she froze in the intensity of the gaze. "And we will finally see what you are made of."

"Say thank you, Kim." Shego swung her backpack onto her shoulder. "I'll be back in two months."

"Two months!" That tore Kim's attention away from Xaio Qing. "That's a long time!"

"You'll need that time. Maybe more than that." Shego shrugged nonchalently. Her brushing aside of Kim's obvious agitation hurt the redhead. "I'll see you in two months."

Kim's hand shot out to try and catch Shego's arm, but Shego was faster than that and quickly side-stepped the furtive swipe, glowering at Kim in warning. "I'll see you around." Then more politely, she bowed to Xaio Qing. "I'll be back in two months."

Xaio Qing was frowning at Shego. "Two months... that is too long. We won't be able to remove all the--"

"I know." Shego snapped irritably. Xaio Qing looked decidedly wounded at the tone Shego used before her face took on an impassive air.

"So."

"Yes."

Kim wasn't sure, but she had a vague feeling that this conversation had to do with her in one way or another.

"You will go?"

"And come back." Shego stuck out her chin confidently.

Xaio Qing threw back her head and let out a long, hearty laugh until tears appeared at the corner of her eyes. "Dearest Shego. I shall wait for you then. And I shall not shirk in training this very promising young woman."

"What's going on?" Kim hated the feeling that Shego had just bet something on her behalf. In fact, she had a sinking suspicion that that was exactly what happened as Shego held out her hand to Xaio Qing.

"Deal." Before Kim could stop them, Xaio Qing and Shego had shaken hands.

"What's going on?" Kim demanded.

"Don't worry your pretty red head about it." Shego replied with a cocky smile. She pecked a kiss on Xaio Qing's cheek, Kim tried not to flinch as Xaio Qing drew the dark-haired woman back and hugged her delightedly, dropping a kiss on Shego's brow in return. Hefting her bag, Shego turned, offering Kim a nonchalent wave. "See you around, Kim."

Barely able to keep her anger in check, she forced a smile on to her lips. Xaio Qing was watching. Control. Control her emotions. "See you later, Shego."

* * *

A new schedule was put into place. her physical training, which she had kept at almost everyday, was cut down to a woeful two days a week.

"Any brute can learn to beat another to a pulp, young pupil." Xaio Qing had explained the change of plans. "But not many have the skills or the talent to pursue the magical arts. With the crutch I have given you, you shall learn to bend the elements to your will. Where, with fists and feet, you once could beat opponents one at a time in close combat; now I shall give you the means to destroy an army with a wave of your hand from a mile away.

"You will learn the guzheng with me. That is one thing that I think you will surpass Shego in. She has never wanted to learn to play the guzheng, while you showed interest." Xaio Qing's smile made Kim wonder if she had damned herself to music lessons for two months just because she was so entranced with it the first time she heard it. And she didn't understand how practising the guzheng would help with 'magic'. But she didn't complain and did as she was told, practising with Xaio Qing until her fingers blistered. Xaio Qing was surprisingly an excellent teacher. She was patient, she was kind, and she pushed Kim to do her best. But Xaio Qing always remembered to give Kim a break.

"We should go play hide and seek today!" Xaio Qing grinned. "It is a very nice day!"

"Hide and seek?" Kim grinned at her childish teacher. Kim remembered tag. Back in elementary school, when kids would run around screaming like crazy. Kim had played the guzheng all afternoon. A little break wouldn't hurt.

"Lets go!" Kim agreed readily to the game, caught up in the excitement that bubbled over.

"Okay, okay... count to ten!"

"Want more time?" Kim smirked.

Xaio Qing let out a peal of delighted laughter, and as she was want to, she pounced on Kim and hugged her in delight. "You are just so darling!"

"Okay," Kim gave a confused smile.

"Just like Shego," Xaio Qing laughed again. "So confident! No, I do not need more time, Kim Possible. I will ask for you to count to five, so it will be easier for you. Ready?"

Before Kim could protest, Xaio Qing had already started running to the front doors, giggling hysterically and almost tripping over her flowing robes.

"One," Kim started counting. So the snake demoness thought five seconds was enough to get away from Kim? Kim grinned, totally into the game, her competitive nature thriving on challenges like this.

'Well,' Kim thought smugly as she reached four, 'This is gonna be fast.'

Xaio Qing, meanwhile, upon exit from the house, was sitting on a tree limp comfortably a good kilometer away. Teleportation. Cheapest, easiest and most comfortable way to travel. But she had left enough of a trail for Kim to follow. If the red head could sense the trail. Snapping her fingers, the air shimmered and parted to reveal a bewildered Kim looking around the huge clearing in front of the household.

"Thought I would use my feet?" Xaio Qing chuckled. The clearing was big enough that five seconds wouldn't be enough to run away from someone watching from the front doors. Even if they reached the edge of the forest, the trees were so sparse at first, it would be easy to spot someone. "Can you sense my trail, young one? Was Shego right about you?"

The figure of Kim darted one way, stopped. Then started out another way. Then stopped again. Suddenly, she turned around, determined, heading the right way.

Xaio Qing let out a peal of delighted laughter. Kim was different! Cut from the same material Shego was made of. Excellent. She had a natural affinity to this sort of thing. Kim didn't know it, of course. Didn't know she was unconsciously tapping into Xaio Qing's gift. Watering her own growing gift with this training.

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" Xaio Qing clapped her hands together in pleasure. Suddenly, she whipped around, eyes narrowed. A slim forked tongue darted out to taste the air quickly. Nothing. She had sworn she felt something watching her--Xaio Qing's attention was quickly brought back to the present as the sound of someone crashing through the brush alerted her to Kim's quick approach. Giggling hysterically at the fun she was having, she lightly kicked off from the tree, her eagerness to put distance between herself and Kim and all thoughts of an intruder in her domain were dashed from her mind.

Meanwhile, golden eyes watched the snake and the young human girl. Tilting its head to one side, the fiery golden bird regarded the interaction curiously as it preened its sun-kissed feathers.

* * *

Shego picked some lint from her tank top. Stepping out of the airport, she was greeted by a rush of hot tropical air. The sun beat down oppressively on Shego's head. It was spring in Hong Kong, but it felt like the dog days of summer. Not bothered by the heat at all, she stepped out with her small carry-on and flagged down a taxi. The red car pulled up quickly to pick up its fare.

"Where you want to go?" The taxi driver asked in passable English.

"Tsim Sha Tsui, please. The InterContinential Hong Kong Hotel." Shego replied in perfect Cantonese.

"Oh, you know Cantonese?" The taxi driver stated the obvious, while pulling away from the curb.

"Yeah," Shego's noncommital answer prompted the driver to leave Shego alone. The drive was a peaceful one The dark-haired woman looked up at the sky, tinted a rich brown-gold by the gucci sunglasses she was wearing. She missed being back in this urban setting. She missed the comfortable baggy jeans she was wearing. She missed Kim.

The man stopped in front of the five-star hotel. Shego gave him a handful of HK dollars, easily five times what the fare was, and left the cool confines of the taxi. Two months was a long time to be gone. Of course, she could always go back to She Cun... But she needed distance. She needed to steel herself and she needed to get away from everything...

Her suite smelled faintly of the orchids, the flowers of choice, that decorated the room. Tasteful and elegeant, with a beautiful view of the Hong Kong harbour. The night view would be spectacular... Opening up her only piece of luggage, she dug into it until she came out with a thick bundle of papers, hastily folded together. Shego finally smiled and backed up to sit in one of the chairs in the room. Kim had written this to her. In Chinese. Kim's penmanship was actually alright. Neat rows of characters, all raging at Shego for being stubborn, dumb, violent, mean, etc. But if read carefully, there were tiny notes of love hidden between the angry words. It was that time Shego had kissed her suddenly in the pagoda. And after dinner, Kim had stormed to her room and written it. Shego had noticed it the day after and palmed the long letter without Kim noticing.

The letter was ten insulting pages long, but Shego chuckled as she flipped through it. Insulting, but amusing. Amusing and endearing. Shego tucked the letter away carefully back into her luggage. There was no use pining over the redhead right now. She was going to go out and wander. Have a good time, look up friends, drink, eat the amazing food and not think about She Cun, Er Mei or Xaio Qing.

Despite being determined to have fun, the next thought that popped up in her head made her remember everything.

'Too bad Kimmie's not here. She'd love Hong Kong.'

* * *

Wade and Jim had had an argument and currently were not talking to each other. Jim and Ron had an argument so they were also not talking to each other, which meant Rufus was also giving Jim the cold shoulder. Jim would ignore Drakken most of the time. So the only ones who talked to Jim was Monique and Tim. And right now, Jim was alienating another person with his attitude. Monique silently watched the twins shouting at each other from the doorway of the Team Possible conference room. Jim had been doing this more often. Lashing out at everyone and everybody as Tigger kept coming back to his master with no news at all. Patience was wearing thin and the group bickered amongst each other. It happened so often lately that Monique just let them duke it out. It was easier that way.

"You need to get over yourself!" Tim snarled. "What the hell is wrong with you, you asshole! The only person who's still talking to you right now is Monique and I, and I don't even know why I bother!"

"I don't have to explain shit to you!" Jim said sullenly.

"You need to apologize to everyone! You're so fucking rude!"

"Fuck you!" Jim shot back. Tim's face grew red with anger.

"Fine! You can stay here by yourself for all I care!" Tim spun around on his heels and stormed past Monique.

Silence reigned in the room.

"Jim."

"Monique."

Monique frowned at the tone of voice he used. "Don't give me that attitude, Jim."

"Sorry," Jim relented under Monique's disapproving eye.

"Well, Jimmy, you've managed to insult Wade, isolate Ron and Rufus and kick Drakken while he's down." Monique listed off his various offenses. "Now you've managed to piss off the one person who was on your side the entire way through. Good job."

Jim took the reprimands without batting an eye, even managing to summon up a bored look on his face. "Are you done?"

"No, I'm not." Monique snapped. "Boy, I told you about that attitude. You need to apologize to everyone."

"Hah!" Jim let out a sharp bark of laughter. "Who's gonna make me?"

"Fine. Have it your way. I hope you think about what you've done while you're being suspended for two weeks." Monique crossed her arms.

"You can't do that," Jim said tersely.

"I can. This is a team, Jim. And if one member isn't working well with the others, they need to shape up or ship out." Monique sat down on the edge of the round conference table. The large screen on one of the walls of the room was cold and blank. "Wade is an integral part of Team Possible. He's the man who makes sure we're hooked up with all the tech and information. He calls in rides for us. He MADE the Kimmunicator. Ron and Rufus are founding members of Team Possible. That deserves respect right there. No matter how many missions you've gone on these past two years, he still has more field experience than you. There's a lot of times when we were in a bind and he managed to get us out of it."

Jim was trying to keep that indignant look on his face, but he was failing.

"Drakken, even though he's a criminal, is trying to help us. Granted, he has his own reasons, but he's offered up his resources for us. Plus," Monique said thoughtfully, "He makes a mean cup of cocoa-moo-moo. You and Tim are the Possibles that make this Team Possible--"

"So corny."

"Shut up." Monique snapped. "You've been going on with your little broody thing, but that doesn't fly here. Pack your bags. I called Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Possible. They're coming to pick you up."

"You can't do this!" Jim stood up so suddenly he knocked his chair onto the floor. He grasped Monique by the shoulders, panicky and pale. "Monique, fine, you win! I'm sorry, okay! Just, you can't kick me off!"

"I'm not kicking you off, Jim. You're on suspension." Monique said softly. She remembered that young teenager that had followed her and Ron to meet Duff Killigan right after his sister disappeared.

"I've been doing EVERYTHING I can to find Kim! Everything! Just... please..." Jim was actually pleading. "You can't suspend me when I'm so close--"

"We, Jim. 'We'. We've been trying every bit as hard as you have. Wade's our info and our rides. Ron, Rufus, Tim and I all contributed in our own ways. And I admit, your Tigger has been an immense help. He can get in and out of the village--"

"He still hasn't brought back word from Kim." Jim's posture slumped into one of defeat. Tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes, and he suddenly found himself engulfed in Monique's arms. Jim tried to keep the tears in courageously, but he was fighting a losing battle. When he had been depressed, the only thing that made it better was pouring his efforts into training Tigger to effectively find Kim Possible. He had been jubilant when Tigger could get into the village. But the taste of that victory was a memory that was slowly growing bitter. Tigger could get in, but he didn't bring Kim out. Back to square one.

"You're doing fine... you need a break, hun." Monique stroked her fingers through the boy's hair in a comforting gesture. "She'd be so proud of you if she saw what you've been doing for her! You know that!"

A sob broke through the wall he had put up so long ago. "I c-can't find her, man. I'm sorry. I-I'm trying so hard!"

"Its alright, Jims." Monique held the boy close. She had actually been waiting for this little release from Jim for some time. "You just need to take a break for a while. We'll take care of everything, k?"

* * *

end: I'm actually glad its getting near the end. i don't think i can milk this any more. Answers will be forthcoming in the next few chapters. The end is set tentatively for chapter 30. Cross your fingers everyone! 


	27. Decisions

Decisions

Kim Possible fanfiction

rating: M

immo

Its been a while, but here it is, just like I promised you guys. Before or on Chinese New Year (January 29th, 2006. Kaytrop, pat yourself on the back. You rock for knowing when!) I'd give you a chapter or something. :D So here's the chapter! I'm on chapter 30, which is THE LAST CHAPTER. And let me tell you, its a HUGE chapter. LoL. If any of you start getting confused reading this, please speak up and tell me what I could work on. Thank you all of you who have been waiting so patiently. And yes, I got ALL your msgs telling me to hurry my ass up. I'm trying. :D Chapter 30, almost done!

Year of the Dog! To everybody out there who celebrates the Lunar New Year, Happy New Year! In my native Cantonese: Sun Leen Fai Lot! Gung Hai Fat Choi!

* * *

The melody echoed on the serene river. Slow notes, plucked out carefully as a boat drifted along side a huge stretch of limestone cliffs. Greenery dotted the pockmarked stone, and trees that had somehow rooted on the forboding cliffs dipped their branches into the river. Beneath the gently swirling waters, all manners of fish swam in their schools peacefully. At the boat's approach, they scattered in a panic, but would resume their leisurely pace somewhere else. The sturdy wooden boat had a simple cloth roof near the end of the boat. Silken drapes hung from the edges of that roof and were drawn up at the moment, revealing two women studiously bent over their instrument. A boatman kept to the very back of the long flat boat, operating the simple rudder/oar skillfully. A wide-brimmed straw hat kept the sun off his face, his navy shirt hung open to reveal a lanky muscular frame that shot down into gnarly legs.

Within the enclosure, the music flowed continuously, like water. Each tremulous note bounced back from the cliffs, filling this little piece of beautiful wilderness.

"Good," That low murmur was almost a shout in this silence of water and cliffs. Xaio Qing leaned over Kim's shoulders and pecked a kiss on Kim's cheek. "Very good, disciple."

"Thank you," Kim shrugged bashfully. "I have an excellent teacher."

"Always the flatterer, hm?" Xaio Qing wrapped her arms around Kim's waist and hugged her close. "Good girl. Now," Xaio Qing plucked several strings in quick succession. Immediately, Kim followed up with a flurry of movements as her arms moved swiftly to drag her fingers across the strings, bringing forth a wild melody that built until Kim released it, flaying her fingers outwards. It was barely visible, but there it was, a ripple in the air, blurring the image of the cliff-side. When it hit, a line of smoke burst from the rocks where the melody had cut into it, the valley roaring with the violence of hewn stone. When the smoke cleared and the echoes of destruction faded, Kim could make out right across the cliff face, a thin line that spanned several meters and maybe a half a meter deep into the limestone. A tree, however, that stood right in the center of the line seemed unharmed.

"How come that tree's still standing?" Kim said in distress. Xaio Qing laughed at Kim's disappointed pout.

"Oh, I am sure you got that tree." Xaio Qing clapped her hands. The sound echoed and made the valley tremble. With a groan, the tree slid into the water. The wound on the tree had been so fine, it hadn't been visible to Kim.

"Excellent, indeed." Xaio Qing nodded her head. 'Almost as good as Shego.'

With a medium, it was easier to manifest the energy within a user. A medium such as a guzheng. With the range the musical instrument had, it was easier to lash one's own energies on the notes and the airwaves and send it out in physical form. Shego, who was not musically inclined at all, had to learn to grapple with her gift the hard way. But it also put her a step above Kim. Cutting out the middleman, Shego was more powerful and didn't require a tool to send out her gift. A glance or a wave of her hand was all that was needed to draw up, harness and throw out that power. Of course, the fact that Shego had wielded a powerful plasma attack since she was young might have helped in the controlling of Xaio Qing's gift.

'And Shego's already grown a good amount of scales.' Xaio Qing noted. The dark-haired woman had already shed Xaio Qing's grafted scale a while ago. The first stage of the transformation had passed, and they were onto the second. Just underneath Shego's human flesh, Xaio Qing had seen baby scales through Shego's pale skin that was steadily growing more transluscent.

* * *

"Who are you?"

Those were the first words the green-eyed woman snarled at her. The snake demoness tilted her head to one side, smiling at this curious sight. The woman was ready to attack, her hands alight with eerie green fire. But Shego could also barely keep her attack up as Xaio Qing took a step forward, her presence causing the other woman to wilt before Xaio Qing's piercing gaze.

"I don't understand." The snake demon said in Chinese as Shego crumpled to the ground. That was the first meeting between master and disciple. Xaio Qing knelt down in front of Shego, stroked that green-tinged face. Those brilliant green eyes... "Bai Su Zhen." Xaio Qing tried that name on her lips. This woman reminded her of the white snake. How? She didn't know. They were similar.

Xaio Qing had drawn the unconscious woman into her lap awkwardly and contented herself to stroking Shego's forehead and studying this young woman's face for more traces of Bai Su Zhen. It was a few hours before Shego woke up.

"Who are you?" Xaio Qing asked in Chinese. The questioning tone in Xaio Qing's voice didn't need any translation, and Shego answered, looking up at Xaio Qing wonderingly.

"Shego."

"Shego." Xaio Qing tried the name on her lips and giggled. "How did you come to be in She Cun? How did you get in?"

"What?" Shego blinked, confused at the barrage of Chinese that assaulted her ears. Xaio Qing sighed in exasperation.

"We will have to teach you Chinese. This... garble you speak will not do." Xaio Qing had said firmly.

"What?" Shego asked again. Even if she had understood what Xaio Qing was saying, she would have been too entranced by the demon's moving lips and reptilian eyes to process the words. Xaio Qing had put her back to sleep afterwards, left careful instructions with Lo po-po and went back home. It had been centuries since such a physical reminder of what she was missing was placed in her arms. Her house on Er Mei seemed so much emptier now. Even the summoned and polymorphed carps couldn't keep her company. Playing with them wasn't fun anymore.

That girl that could summon green fire was on her mind.

"Why aren't you playing with us?" A female carp pouted.

"Leave me alone," Xaio Qing growled, making a dismissive motion with her hand. Her playmates all ran screaming as their unlucky companion who had bothered the powerful snake demon fell to the ground choking and gasping for air. Xaio Qing watched emotionlessly as the carp slowly morphed back to its original form, watching its half-human half-fish body flop about in mindless terror. Finally, as its struggles grew weaker, her voice called out for one of the cowering carp-turned-human.

"Y-yes, mistress?"

"Take her back to the water." Xaio Qing turned away from them and headed towards her room. She could have anything she wanted. She could create playmates out of the various creatures that inhabited her territory. But what she lacked was someone like Bai Su Zhen. The carps would forget about this incident as soon as they were turned into fish. Their long-term memory could be eradicated easily. They were flighty and forgetful, whimsical and lacking. Other demons... were painful reminders of Bai Su Zhen, and Xaio Qing tended to keep to herself because of that fact. In the centuries since Bai Su Zhen, Xaio Qing had faded into the background and kept away from the rest of the world. She was content in her life up in Er Mei. She had playmates, she made sure She Cun had everything it needed, she hibernated and she was happy.

"Shego." Xaio Qing tried that name on her lips again. It was a strange name. But it fit the green-eyed woman, she had decided happily. She looked up at the sky and felt impatient for once. She never felt impatient. There was never anything of any importance to feel impatient for. everything was given to her right away. When Xaio Qing asked for something, she got it. She had asked for Lo po-po to make sure their guest got more acquainted with the village and with the language before Xaio Qing met with Shego again. That feeling of anticipation was annoying. But Xaio Qing got a thrill out of it. It had been a long time since she was this excited.

* * *

The first thing Xaio Qing did when she saw Shego was burst into laughter. Shego had apparently torn off a sleeve of her shirt and blind-folded herself.

"We are playing blind man's bluff?" Xaio Qing asked excitedly. They were in that small house at the edge of the village where the elders usually had meetings regarding She Cun's welfare.

Shego understood enough to frown. "No... play. I don't want sleep." Her Chinese was broken, heavily accented, but passable.

"Sleep?" Xaio Qing pondered Shego's words. "Oh!" Xaio Qing giggled when she realized what Shego was saying. Last time Shego had fallen unconscious on her first encounter with the demoness. "That was unfortunate. It was also not my intent. But you are not used to me yet... that is why you fainted."

"I no faint!" Shego said furiously, recognizing that last word.

"You think not seeing me will help you?" Xaio Qing stepped closer, listening to the quickening of Shego's heart. In a few more steps, she was right in front of Shego. Swooning at the near proximity of Xaio Qing, Shego fell forward. Xaio Qing caught the pale woman easily and tugged away the make-shift blindfold. "Why hide your eyes, Shego? They are very pretty."

Shego pushed away from Xaio Qing and the snake let out a cry of surprise. Nobody had ever been so disrespectful before! Xaio Qing easily dodged a swipe from fire-encased hands. Such insolence!

Xaio Qing grinned. This was refreshing.

"Stop," Xaio Qing held out her hand, wanting to please this woman. "Please. I do not want to fight."

"Who are you?" These words sounded more natural, as if Shego had been practising saying that question consistantly throughout her month.

"Xaio Qing. I take care of this village." Xaio Qing latched eagerly onto this line of conversation. Questions and answers. Answers to the mysterious green-eyed woman. "What brought you here, Shego?"

"Vacation." The flames surrounding Shego's hands died down as she gazed at Xaio Qing suspiciously. "What..." Shego struggled to grasp the word. "Are you? What are you?"

"I gave Lo po-po instructions to tell you. Has she not told you?"

"Fong tell me." Shego nodded. "True?"

"All true." Xaio Qing confirmed what had been told to Shego.

"Huh."

"Are you surprised?"

Shego gave Xaio Qing a wry smirk. "Lady, I not surprise easy."

And that had been the beginning of something beautiful.

So Xaio Qing had visited Shego once or twice every week, always in that tiny house alone. Talked to her and played with her. Finally, Xaio Qing lured Shego up to Er Mei and Shego went. The pale woman had slowly learned to enjoy the woman's company.

"Right there," Xaio Qing pointed up to the sky, tracing the lines of the constellation Shego had shown her. "What you call 'the big dipper'."

Shego nodded, pleased. "Right."

Xaio Qing's lips widened to a pleased smile as Shego patted her head indulgently. Eager to please, Xaio Qing pointed to the star at the end of the big dipper. "And that star up there... its named after you?"

Shego looked up at the north star, and Xaio Qing was a bit doubtful if that was really the name of the star when she could see Shego trying hard not to laugh. "Yeah. That's it. The Shego Star."

Xaio Qing was about to question her mischievous disciple but stopped when those laughing eyes regarded her with a deep fondness. Xaio Qing snuggled deeper into Shego's arms, content in the comfortable embrace. Sitting on the roof of Xaio Qing's house in Er Mei, with Xaio Qing tucked against the crook of Shego's shoulder, this was bliss for the snake demoness.

"Hold me tighter, Shego!" Xaio Qing demanded childishly.

Shego rolled her eyes. "You're such a brat, eh? And you're supposed to be my shi fu..."

"Hey, I am a great master!" Xaio Qing bit Shego's shoulder playfully which drew out a squawk of protest from the green-eyed woman.

"Why you--"

Laughing, Xaio Qing rolled off the roof and hit the ground running, gaining a headstart from a furious Shego.

Shego took Xaio Qing on a rollercoaster ride of feelings; from the lighter side of the spectrum of general happiness and pleasure, to the darker spectrum of things... Like when Xaio Qing found out why Shego had been making increasingly frequent and long stays at She Cun. During one of these disappearances, Xaio Qing had gotten impatient and gone to She Cun to find her wayward disciple. What was keeping her Shego? Had Shego found something fun to do? Or something good to eat? And was she not sharing it with her master? Maybe Shego was planning a surprise for Xaio Qing!

Eagerly, she had sought out her disciple, delighting in this supposed game. It was easy to find Shego. Xaio Qing peeked through the window and was a bit disappointed when she saw that Shego was in bed. Nothing fun. But what she had seen next had made her blood boil and dashed away the roguish grin on the demoness' lips. Someone gasped out Shego's name. A tangle of limbs. What Xaio Qing had heard had conjured the most unpleasant feeling inside of her. Jealousy. Being there was too much, and Xaio Qing fled back to Er Mei, heart pounding in her ears, absolutely sick with anger.

"No," Xaio Qing had retreated to her bed, curling up in a fetal position underneath the covers. "Don't, please, Don't," Xaio Qing pleaded with that excrutiating feeling inside of her and tried to hold it in. In the end, she had gained control again and stuffed those unpleasant images away into a deep dark part of her mind and locked it away.

When Shego came back to Er Mei though, that part had unlocked, and she could feel all those feelings roaring up, caught in her throat and chest. The smell on Shego triggered it, that curious scent that she had been so ignorant to before. Xaio Qing knew what it was. It was in her Shego's hair, in her Shego's pores, meshed in her Shego's clothes.

"Where were you, Shego?" Xaio Qing could hear her own voice, high and pleasant. "I missed you!"

"Yeah, yeah." Xaio Qing was used to Shego's gruff reply. Even though Xaio Qing knew that Shego didn't mean to be so brusque, that Shego did care about Xaio Qing, that tone of voice enraged her. The snake demoness moved more quickly than she had ever moved in a long time, before she realized what she was doing.

"I asked you a question." Xaio Qing's voice was low and dangerous. Leaves fluttered down around master and disciple, jarred from their branches by the violent thud of Shego's body against a tree trunk. Shego clawed at the hand that pinned her to the tree by her throat. The green-eyed woman hadn't seen it coming at all. Xaio Qing had hurled herself at Shego, pushing her back until the tree stopped them.

"Xaio Qing--"

"Where were you, Shego!" Xaio Qing's voice boomed across the area, and birds flew up en masse, terrified at the supernatural voice that resonated with anger. "I missed you! Does that mean nothing! OR WERE YOU TOO BUSY!"

"I-" Shego tried lying. "I don't know what--"

This was the first time Shego had ever seen Xaio Qing this angry. Shego wasn't even aware of the fact she was flying through the air until she hit to ground and skidded across the length of the courtyard and bounced to a stop against a tree. The rough ground had gouged bits of skin and flesh from her body. Shego could register that something was leaking down her face as she lay there trying to get her breath back. And without a doubt, she knew it was blood. When Shego opened her eyes, true horror gripped her soul as she watched her shi fu's body stretch and rip out of her clothes... lengthening to the already discernable shape of an enormous serpent.

"DON'T," Xaio Qing's voice contained the barest hiss, "LIE TO ME, SHEGO!"

Shego barely managed to roll away from the snake's winding path, but wasn't fast enough as Xaio Qing turned around, its midsection catching Shego in a glancing blow. Shego tumbled away again, as fast as she could, knowing that the only option was escape. But even though Shego had become so much faster than she had been when she first entered the village, she couldn't dodge Xaio Qing's lightning fast moves. A scream ripped itself from Shego's throat as she felt bones crushed under the pressure of Xaio Qing's powerful maw. The feel of the bones in her arm crushing, splintering and rubbing against each other sent a wave of nausea through her. She would have lost her lunch if it wasn't for the fact that the pain overrode everything else she was feeling.

"DO NOT LIE TO ME, SHEGO. WHO WAS THAT? WHO WERE YOU WITH?"

From the defiant glint in Shego's pained grimace, Xaio Qing knew she would not get the answer she sought. Even if Xaio Qing shook Shego like a rag doll, even if Xaio Qing made Shego realize that there were so many more levels of pain than she had already experienced, the asian demon was pretty certain Shego wouldn't divulge that bit of information.

"FINE. I HAVE THEIR SCENT. I WILL FIND THEM." Xaio Qing snarled and tossed Shego aside. "YOU CANNOT HIDE THEM FROM ME."

"No!" One arm was crushed, useless and bleeding. But Shego still managed to stave off unconsciousness and grasp onto the serpent's body, shuddering in revulsion at the feel of powerful muscles rippling under smooth, pebbly scales. "Master, no!"

"Master?" The snake demoness' voice lowered. "Now you call me master? Why call me master when you do not listen to me? What did I ASK YOU TO PROMISE WHEN I SWORE YOU IN AS A DISCIPLE!"

"Shi fu, please," Shego held on tightly with her one good arm, knowing she was losing the battle to keep conscious. Her vision was beginning to blurr... "Please..." Shego slumped to the ground in a boneless heap.

"Shego!" The snake shrieked in alarm, and in a few seconds, a naked woman stood in the middle of all the destruction, cradling the unconscious and mangled form of Shego in her arms. Xaio Qing looked around the courtyard helplessly, seeing how the earth was tossed up, how several trees were standing lopsidedly because she had thrown Shego into them...

"Oh Shego, my Shego, my Shego," Xaio Qing moaned. Even though she wanted to cry, her eyes were dry. She touched Shego's destroyed arm and stared at it in muted anguish.

An arm that seemed beyond repair could easily be fixed, especially by someone like Xaio Qing. Knitting bones and flesh together was something even a rank two-hundred-year-old demon could do.

But some things, magic just couldn't fix.

As Xaio Qing worked on Shego's arm, the demoness was sure her actions today had broken something irreparable between master and disciple.

* * *

Shego sat forward in the tiny wooden chair on a beach in Cuba. A huge beach umbrella shaded her from the unforgiving sun and a young Cuban girl was in the process of braiding Shego's hair. Since she left She Cun, Shego had travelled as much of the world as possible. And now she ended her two month vacation in sunny Cuba. In a black bikini, and wearing a green shirt, she sat on the beach soaking up the sights and sounds of sun, surf and sand.

"Does it hurt?" The girl's accent made her voice rich and exotic.

"Its tight," Shego admitted. A good part of her hair was tamed down in tight conformed rows of braids on the villainess' head. The girl was almost done.

"But very pretty," The Cuban girl blurted out, and smiled winningly at Shego. Shego was about to shoot back a friendly quip, but was interrupted by the sudden sandstorm that was being whipped up by a very familiar looking mode of transportation. One she had flown very often in Drakken's employ. It landed rather abruptedly, two people being thrown from the vehicle at the rough landing while three jumped out rather nimbly.

"Finish it," Shego's hand shot out to catch the Cuban girl's wrist before she could flee. With trembling hands, the girl did as she was told as Shego regarded the five with narrowed eyes.

"Shego!" Drakken scrambled up from where he had fallen in the sand. Shego almost felt a twinge of affection for the idiot as he regarded her as a lost puppy would, when its finally found its way home. "Finally I've found you!"

"You mean finally, we've found you." A young black woman helped Ron up. Shego searched her memory for the young woman's face, but found she couldn't really recall who she was. All she remembered was that this was one of Kimmie's friends. "Shego, we're only gonna ask you once: Where's Kim Possible?"

The last braid was done. Shego sent the young Cuban girl on her way with a big tip. Running her hand through the rows of braided hair on her scalp, Shego flashed Team Possible a feral grin. "Who's asking?"

"I am," The last two of the five was a set of twins. One of them stepped forward, raring to go. The other one put a steadying hand on his brother's shoulder.

"And you are?"

"Jim." The hot-headed twin hissed out through clenched teeth.

"Then you must be Tim." Shego said thoughtfully.

"How did you--"

"--know that?" The twins completed each other's sentence. Shego felt annoyed yet comforted by this habit these two had. It reminded her of her brothers.

"How do you think I know?" Shego answered their question with one of her own as she started stretching, getting ready for the inevitable fight. "Aren't you two missing a sister?"

Jim let out an enraged scream as he charged Shego, thinking the worse. His twin and the others following close behind. In less than ten seconds, almost all of them were sprawled out in the sand, groaning. The only ones who were still standing were the ones who had been smart enough not to move. Ron and Drakken were rooted to the spot.

Ron knew. And Drakken knew.

"Shego..." Drakken started.

"Dr. D. I see you've been doing alright," Shego drawled.

"You look good too, Shego." Drakken managed a wavering smile. Then Shego turned her attention on Ron. Ron stared at Shego, paling as she neared.

"Stoppable." Shego glared at the blonde man.

"Sh-Shego." Ron cursed himself for stuttering. There was just so much... power emanating from Shego. It was an instinctive fear deep within him as Ron Stoppable and as a master of Tai Shing Pek Kwar. Ron could sense the magic around Shego and tried to scramble away, but was too slow as Shego burst forward, knocking Ron to the ground. If it weren't for the fact that it was Shego on top of him who looked like she literally wanted to eat him, Ron would've thanked god. It wasn't everyday that a woman clad in a very tiny bikini was caught straddling him on a Cuban beach.

"Stoppable," Shego hissed. The light caught Shego's green eyes in a certain way... Ron squinted--

"Monique!" Ron yelped as he realized his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Shego's pupils weren't round and normal like regular human beings. They were lightless, black slits. Rufus shot out of Ron's pocket and tried to latch its teeth on Shego's hand, but was smacked away unceremoniously. Thankfully, the sand cushioned the rodent's fall. "Monique, help!"

Totally distracted by Ron, Shego didn't notice Monique's headlong rush until the air was knocked out of her by Monique's tackle. Ron rolled desperately away from Shego's near vicinity and when he got up, immediately went running up a palm tree, screeching in very monkey-like tones. Shego threw Monique away, letting out another angry hiss.

"Girl, we're gonna fix that lisp of yours." Monique dusted herself off and watched Shego warily. Team Possible surrounded Shego. She had nowhere to go.

"You're pretty dumb if you think you can beat me and Kimmie still can't," Shego smirked.

"What did you do to our sister!" Tim roared. The level-headed boy was the first to attack. A quick kick sent Tim to the ground. Jim followed behind his twin quickly as he was felled from a quick jab to the throat that left him gasping for air. Monique was thrown into the ocean. Drakken was used as a springboard up onto the hovercraft.

"Stop her!" Jim cried out hoarsely.

"Thanks, Dr. D," Shego grinned. She had manged to pickpocket Drakken on her way up. She held up the keys Drakken had had and waved them at the downed Team Possible, taunting them. "You're about a million years too slow to be able to catch me!"

Monique was just trudging up to shore as she watched Shego zoom away in Drakken's hovercraft.

"Great," Monique groaned. She delved into her pocket, thankful that the Kimmunicator was waterproof. "Wade, got a track on the craft?"

"Got it--its just blinked off." Wade groaned. "Drakken's hovercraft--"

"--is equipped with jamming devices." Jim rasped. His hand shot out to grab the front of Drakken's blue garb. "I'll kill you!"

"Monique!" Drakken hollered, cringing at Jim's temper.

"Jim..." Monique said warningly. The twin made a visible attempt to harness his anger, and finally relaxed his grip on Drakken who scrambled to hide behind Tim.

"You were the one who mod-ed the hovercraft's jamming abilities." Monique shook her head while Jim grumbled something indiscernable. Ron had exited the safe haven of his palm tree and was walking towards them sheepishly.

"What happened to you?" Jim turned his anger on Ron.

"Didn't you guys see?" Ron asked. He was shivering violently as he picked up Rufus and stuffed the rodent back into his pocket. "On her back."

"What?" Ron had everyone's attention now.

"It was... peeling."

"So she got a bad burn," Monique shrugged.

"No," Ron shook his head. He had seen it. "Underneath her skin, it was black. There was a black spot underneath her skin on her back."

"What?" Drakken peeked out from behind Tim. Ron's face was pale.

"I don't know. But Shego's changed somehow."

* * *

Kim sat on the bottom steps to Er Mei, taking a well-deserved rest. When she didn't have to play with Xaio Qing, she worked on the physical aspects of her training. Something she kept up because--across her mind, a ghost was conjured up. Someone with angry green eyes, dark hair and fiery hands. Kim knew this person was important... but she didn't quite remember why. Or what their name was. And it was frustrating as her mind started going through a bunch of faces... A proud black woman... a naked molerat... A bright-eyed freckly boy that she had strong feelings of exasperation/affection for. There was also the image of two boys, obviously twins and an older couple who kept calling her name.

"Ugh," Kim placed a hand on the side of her head. All these faces going through her mind was giving her a headache. When she was around Xaio Qing, none of these images plagued her. She felt good with Xaio Qing. She should go back. With renewed energy, she got up and stretched, intent on doing just that.

"Kim."

Kim turned around quickly, tensing for a fight. But the sight of the dark-haired ghost of a woman in her mind turned flesh made her whisper that name she knew so well.

"Shego."

"I'm back." Shego grinned.

"Oh my god, look at your hair!" Kim shook her head, blinking away... what had happened? How had she forgotten Shego?

Shego ran fingers through her hair, braided tight against her scalp. The smile on her face was shy. Shy.

"It looks great!" Kim said excitedly. She grabbed hold of Shego's hands and examined the woman closely. There was an embarassed smile on her face as she met Shego's eyes again.

"What?" Shego grinned, couldn't stop grinning. Two months had been a long time for her. Long enough for her to boldly take the risk and place her hand at the side of Kim's face in an intimate gesture.

"I totally didn't realize you were gone," Kim said apologetically. "Its been actually really busy lately and--"

"You don't have to explain," Shego kept her voice even, calm and soothing. Kim knew Shego enough to know Shego was feeling anything else but even, calm and soothed. Kim would bet anything at the moment that Shego was seriously pissed.

"I'm sorry?"

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Shego gave Kim a strained smile. That quickly disappeared, along with the caressing hand on the side of Kim's face as Shego noted the approach of her master. Xaio Qing smiled at Shego brightly. Faced with Shego's disapproving frown though, her smile quivered a bit before it fell completely.

"Kim, complete your exercises. Xaio Qing and I have to talk."

Kim left without saying another word.

When the sound of the redhead's footsteps had disappeared completely, Shego looked at Xaio Qing with a pained expression.

"What are you doing?" Even though Shego whispered the question, it echoed loudly.

"What I have to." Xaio Qing sat down on the steps and looked up at the sky.

"You don't have to--"

"I do not?" Xaio Qing asked bitterly. "Shego... I did not think you would come back."

Shego stared at her master. Then, with a determined set to her jaw, she walked up to Xaio Qing and crouched down in front of her.

"Shego, what--"

"I said I would come back to you." Shego said more firmly. Xaio Qing studied Shego's face. Then her face took on an expression of pure joy as she saw Shego smile wryly and nod once, to confirm the unspoken question between them.

"Shego?"

"Of course."

"You will stay with me?" Xaio Qing's voice became meek and pleading. "Forever?"

"You know it." Shego smiled. "I'll never leave you."

"I am so happy!" Xaio Qing squealed and hugged the other woman close. Shego returned the embrace, teeth clenched tightly together as she burrowed her face into the crook of Xaio Qing's neck.

* * *

end: so the end is nearing. And my chapters are getting rushed. Dun worry, its good. You all want this to end anyways, right? lol 


	28. Goodbye, Love

Goodbye, Love

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - R?

* * *

"You play very well." Xaio Qing stood behind Kim, hands sliding over the strings, fingers sometimes brushing against Kim's. A gold chain was wrapped around Kim's hand. Attached to the chain was a triagular object, jade-like, but not jade. A scale. Kim used the scale as a pick for the guzheng. "Almost like Bai Su Zhen."

"Bai Su Zhen?" Kim's interest perked. Besides the story Shego had told her about the legendary White Snake, she's never really heard any mention of her besides that. Xaio Qing played a few notes. Sad notes, that dripped with bitterness.

"This guzheng was hers, you know? Bai Su Zhen was very beautiful. The most beautiful snake ever," Xaio Qing whispered. A delicate rising crescendo. "She was five hundred years older than me. Her scales were... very pretty. Hard as diamonds. Prettier than diamonds. When she was human, she was the most beautiful human ever. The kindest human."

Deep notes struck a cord in Kim. The redhead felt like Xaio Qing was pulling on the strings of her heart.

"Bai Su Zhen, she would heal people. Those who could not pay, she healed for free. Her worthless husband," Xaio Qing spat the words out, and the angry music suddenly made Kim lurch forward in pain, unnoticed by Xaio Qing. "and I, we helped. We gathered herbs and brewed them. All snakes know innately how to cure ailments. Even death is temporary when we have the right ingredients.

"Though Bai Su Zhen was much more powerful than I, when winter came, the cold would bother her too. She always had a thick coat, made of silk and stuffed with feathers to keep her warm. White is unlucky for the Chinese, you know?" asked Xaio Qing, who didn't expect Kim to answer the question. "But Bai Su Zhen would have no other colour on her. And we would sleep together under really heavy blankets, and she would wrap it around herself and I."

Kim suddenly found herself thinking about when they slept, with Xaio Qing's head tucked underneath Kim's chin. A sudden burst of tenderness hit her as Xaio Qing wrapped her arms around Kim from behind and the redhead found that she was powerless to stop herself from enjoying that warmth pressed against her.

"It is so much easier with you..." Xaio Qing whispered into Kim's ears. "You are so much more... receptive. But Shego made it clear to me. I will have but one disciple."

Kim felt a sudden burst of phantom pain from her back, where Shego had forcibly extracted Xaio Qing's scale from her back in the battle. Xaio Qing, sensing Kim's discomfort, rubbed Kim's back soothingly.

"Of course," Kim had a distinct feeling that Xaio Qing was only saying that to stroke Kim's wounded pride. Shegohad challenged her to a fight to see how good Kim had gotten since Shego left. They were evenly matched in everything except magic, and Kim had been able to use the guzheng in battle to even out that inconsistancy. But Shego had won fair and square. It was a victory Kim could submit to, though. It had the feel of one of their old battles. One would win or one would lose or they would fight each other to a draw. It was just the luck of the draw, sometimes. They had traded blows until both realized they were evenly matched and unless they had a trick up their sleeves, neither one was going to win.

So Shego had opted on cheating. While fighting, Shego had started tearing at Kim's clothing until the redhead was struggling to fend off Shego and hold her clothing together.

"Aw, why so shy, princess?" Shego had teased her mercilessly while Xaio Qing watched, laughing in amusement. "Oooo, a full body blush!"

"That's not fair, Shego!" Kim held the guzheng against her, strategically blocking her more intimate areas from view.

"I see London, I see France!" Shego sing-songed. "I see Kimmie's--wait." Shego's face split in a develish grin. "Doesn't seem like you're wearing any underpants, Kimmie."

"Who tore it off me!" Kim shouted back at Shego, blushing from head to toe. A swipe of Shego's fiery hands had not only left a small burn on Kim's hip, but also took out the remains of her pants and her underwear.

"Fine, fine." Shego pouted and asked Xaio Qing for the green cloth that draped over the demoness' shoulders. Xaio Qing gave it up quickly. When Shego approached Kim to drape the sheet over her, Kim temporarily let down her guard. Shego's encircling arms had found that spot on Kim's back that had Xaio Qing's scale embedded in it.

"Shego--!" Xaio Qing wasn't fast enough to stop the green-eyed girl as the pale woman ripped the scale from its spot on Kim's back.

It was the most excrutiating pain Kim ever had the displeasure of experiencing. It was at like someone doing a root canal on her soul without administering anesthetic first. There was no amount of adrenaline or pain-inhibitors in the world that could prepare her for having that piece torn out of her. The pain she felt now was proportional to the ecstasy she felt when the scale had first taken root on her back.

"I win." Shego had let Kim fall to the ground. The redhead lay there, arching back in pain, screaming out her agony.

"Shego." Xaio Qing's voice was heavy with disapproval, but Shego glared at the demoness, chin tilted up a bit. The master knew her disciple well. Shego was being difficult and she wouldn't apologize for what she had just done. Xaio Qing had flown to the younger woman's side, tended to her while Shego just walked away, dropping the gleaming green scale in the dust. The day after, Xaio Qing had strung Kim's extracted scale on a gold chain and gifted it to her disciple as a sort of consolation prize.

'Didn't she care?' Kim would find herself wondering about Shego. Shego had disappeared again.

"I will be going back to hibernate soon. Possibly tonight. So I will spend the time I have left with Shego, because she is in need of me." Kim perked up. In need?

"Goodbye, Kim Possible. It was very nice knowing you." Xaio Qing moved away from Kim, and the goodbye sounded so final that Kim had to just reach out and hold on to Xaio Qing's arm. Xaio Qing smiled and hugged Kim, not doing anything to dispel Kim's uneasiness about the finality of this adieu.

* * *

The days passed by quickly since Xaio Qing left, and soon, there was snow on the ground.

It was despair all over again, despair Shego seemed intent on imposing on the both of them. Because sometimes, Kim would hold on to Shego and the dark-haired woman's grip on Kim made Kim believe Shego was intent on never letting her go.

'Say it again, I need you to reaffirm what I heard, make sure it wasn't a lie,' Kim would silently beg. But Shego never said anything nowadays. So Kim never said anything. She wanted to tell Shego she loved her... loves her. But how could you get the courage when the one you love seemed intent on pushing you away? When what you say could be thrown back at you?

Kim sat in front of her guzheng, pausing in her playing. She was doing that a lot lately. Shego let her do whatever she wanted now... let her. Well, if letting her was synonymous with not caring, that was what Shego was doing. Not caring, not giving a damn what Kim was doing. Kim had pushed the boundaries deliberately, seeing if Shego was going to make her do the physical training exercises if she slacked. But no. She didn't.

Besides the obvious changes in Shego's attitude and interactions with her, Shego had also started physically changing. Dressing weirdly. Shego would deck herself out in the thickest coat she could find, layers on her body. And she would sleep in as much as she could. Also, she constantly kept a lambskin hat on her head, the kind with earflaps. It was ridiculous. She even wore it on the chance occasion that they had sex.

Like last night.

Lovemaking was fast and desperate, as if they were on a time limit. It was like trying to fill a barrel that had a hole at the bottom, or bailing out a sinking boat.

Kim lay there in the aftermath, breathing harshly against Shego. Playfully, she batted at one of the earflaps on the hat.

"Stop." Shego grunted, slapping away Kim's hand. Shego buttoned up her shirt--didn't take long since she didn't let Kim unbutton it all the way. That was another thing. Shego always tried to keep her shirt and hat on. It was mildly insulting.

'No, its hella insulting.' Kim pulled on her underwear, feeling... dirty. Shego bouncing away from her as soon as the deed was done... made her feel like Shego was only doing this because she had to. Like Kim was a fucking chore.

"What, going already?" Shego's voice was biting and snide.

"Fuck you, Shego." Kim picked up her clothes, and strode out of the audience chamber, away from Shego. Kim had initiated things. Shego had finally complied to going a round of duking it out with Kim, outside in the cold. See how good Kim's gotten. They had had a good bout until Shego had called an end to it because it was cold. Kim had taken off Shego's gloves when they had entered the audience chamber. The redhead had taken those pale hands, ever so carefully, and breathed warm air on it. Kissed them and rubbed them to try to get the blood circulating. Shego's hands were so cold. And so were her lips. Shego had tried to push away, but Kim had insisted. So Shego had given in to Kim's demands.

'Given in.' Kim felt ashamed with herself. If Shego didn't want to touch her... she shouldn't have forced herself on the other woman. Why didn't Shego want her?

Shego watched the redhead go until she couldn't see her anymore, than stayed still listening for that inevitable slam of Kim's door.

'This is getting old, but its the only way to get you pissed.' Shego reached her hand under her hat to scratch at her scalp. Keeping the hat on made her head itchy.

'Just gotta pile enough straw on the proverbial camel's back. And it'll break.' Shego picked up her mittens from the ground. Instead of wearing them, though, she stuffed them in her pocket. Her hands were warm.

It wouldn't take long to break Kim.

* * *

Shego started the fight. In fact, if Kim didn't know better, Shego had been aching for this.

The fiery-handed woman had been picking for a fight, doing her best to annoy the hell out of Kim all the way back to She Cun.

It was late in the night, but neither women were sleeping. Shego and Kim had lived together long enough to know each other pretty well. One thing Shego learned about Kim was that the redhead wore her heart on her sleeve. She was devastating honest with her feelings, sensitive, caring, patient, loving, understanding and giving. It was so easy to hurt her if Kim considered you a friend. Or something more.

"Why are you being like this, Shego?" Kim asked, frustrated. It felt like they were back at square one again. Shego had obviously closed herself off to Kim emotionally, and the redhead didn't know why.

"Kim, please." Shego dragged out the last word, a bored look on her face. Shego stood in an infuriatingly casual manner, her weight resting on one hip as she glanced at her nails, projecting the air of someone who found their cuticles so much more important than the person they was facing. "Enough with the melodrama."

Kim had to fight back tears of frustration. She seemed to be doing that a lot recently.

"What's going on Shego? Why are you--"

"I'm bored with you, alright?" Shego finally looked at Kim, catching the redhead in the fullness of her green gaze. "It was fun while it lasted, but ya know, all good things come to an end, yadayadayada--"

"What?" Kim's whispered word interrupted Shego's speel. Shego summoned up her most arrogant smirk and laughed spitefully.

"Kimmie, you," Shego had to stop laughing to get her words out. "You didn't actually think this," Shego motioned in between the two of them. "that this meant anything, right?" The look of devastation on Kim's face was all Shego needed. "That's funny. You actually did."

Kim didn't even try to hold back the tears anymore.

"Well, since I won this little game, let me tell you why I really brought you here. To She Cun. To Er Mei." Shego placed a finger underneath Kim's chin to tilt her head up to meet the other's eyes. "Did I really need someone to be up here training with me? Ha." Shego scoffed. "Give me more credit than that. Why would I give you the secret to winning you?"

Kim was locked on Shego's face, disbelieving.

"Its true, Kimmie." Shego said in a low harsh whisper. "Everything was planned. Physically beating you to a pulp was too easy. Scars on your body--" Kim jerked away from Shego's hands, which had trailed down to the small of her back. Stepped forward right into Shego's unforgiving arms that held her tightly and gasped when Shego drew her closer, cupping Kim's ass lewdly. "--heal. But emotional scars last forever."

"You're lying." Kim tried a smile through her tears, smeared them away with the back of her hands. "No. I-I don't believe it...S-Shego you can't--"

"I can't?" Shego suddenly caught Kim's face in between two hands. Bending Kim backwards and dipping down, Shego claimed a kiss from Kim. It was dominating and agressive, and it hurt as Shego took the liberty of giving Kim's lower lip not-so-gentle nips. It was second nature for Kim to open her mouth and accept that intruding tongue. No longer gentle and passionate, the kiss seared Kim with its ruthlessness and violence. Shego's hands pressed insistently, roughly against the apex of Kim's legs. Even clothed, Kim could feel her body betraying her and responding to Shego's touch, and a guttural moan dragged itself from Kim's throat.

"Does that feel good, pumpkin?" Shego's words were sickly sweet against Kim's ears. The redhead tried to push Shego away, but the brunette had the upper hand. Hands ripped at Kim's shirt and cast the offending article away. Exposed the white flesh of Kim's shoulder allowing Shego to burn kisses on the creamy skin.

"No, Shego," Kim gritted out the words through clenched teeth, tears falling steadily from her eyes. Kim closed her eyes, willing the tears to stop. Kept her teeth clenched and held the expulsions of ecstatic cries in her chest. "No!"

"Don't you want this?" They had backed up against a wall, Shego continued on mercilessly. "You've been with me for years, princess. You've wanted this for years. You've had this for years. I've had you for years."

Kim's cries escaped with her sobs as she tightened her hold around Shego, nails digging through Shego's shirt. That damned ridiculous hat still on Shego's head. She wanted Shego so much it hurt, even with the stupid hat on.

"Get away from me." Kim tried to pull away.

"Why?" Shego pouted, a malicious glint in her eyes. "Don't you love me, princess?"

"You told me you loved me." Kim gave Shego the ammunition she needed.

Shego smirked. "And you believed it? Didn't I just tell you it was all a game? Don't you get it?"

Gently, Shego placed each of her thumbs over Kim's eyes. Cataracts formed over the red-head's eyes. For a minute, Shego could let a pained look slip on her face as she felt Kim's tears wetting the skin of her hands.

"Are you crying, Kimmie?" Shego asked mockingly.

Please.

Please.

'If any gods are listening right now... Assist me in my lies.' Shego prayed and felt an answering tingle in the back of her mind as the spell slipped into place.

Kim shoved Shego away angrily, unable to stop the tears now. The sneer on Shego's face was... infuriating.

Shego accepted the slap she knew was coming, felt the sting on her cheek. Her head jerked to the right by the force. Another slap. The pain from the slap before dulled the second blow.

"Are you done?" Shego asked coolly, raising herself up.

"I never want to see you again, Shego." Kim didn't want to cry in front of Shego. But she couldn't help it as her last word caught and hitched on a sob.

"You don't have to. I've pretty much got what I want." Shego felt another well-deserved slap, this time on the other cheek. Shego didn't pause to retaliate this time, her backhand sending Kim sprawling onto the floor. "Go home."

Kim sat there on the ground for a few seconds, stunned. Finally she stood up. Walking to her room in the house, Kim picked up the first shirt she saw and slipped it on. When she opened the front door, waiting patiently outside for her was Tigger. He tilted his head to the side and whined, as if to ask Kim if she was alright.

"I'm o-okay," Kim gave the dog a watery smile. He licked her hand and whined, asking another question again.

"Yeah." The redhead nodded absent-mindedly. "Can you take me to the tweebs?"

Tigger stood up, wagging his tail furiously. He didn't know what 'tweebs' meant... but it sounded like going home! He trotted off a bit, stopped and looked behind him to make sure Kim was following. Without a second glance behind her, Kim followed the german shepherd.

If Kim had taken one last look, she would've seen a dried-eyed Shego. The fiery brunette had lost the ability to cry. But she couldn't stop the natural reaction of her body trying to empty her grief. Silent sobs heaved out of Shego's mouth, but tears refused to come. Kim's departure seemed to take the strength away from her as Shego's knees buckled under her own weight.

"Kimmie, Kimmie, Kimmie..." Shego repeated the mantra. She had gathered Kim's torn shirt into her arms, already feverishly wishing that they still encased their owner. It still had Kim's scent on it. The pale-skinned woman dropped her face into the material and bit down on the ripped clothes. Unable to cry, she screamed out her sorrow, the clothes successfully muffling her suffering.

Goodbye, love.

Goodbye.

* * *

end: This chapter was corny. I know. This is what happens when you listen to the Rent's soundtrack. Goodbye, love, goodbye love! Just came to say, goodbye love... goodbye. Ahahah. I love Mimi. 


	29. To Become A Snake

To Become A Snake

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - R?

* * *

Shego found it fascinating to look at herself in the mirror. To examine the changes that were happening to her. It was hard, though. She twisted her head to glance at her back in the mirror. The human skin that had been covering her new skin was slowly shedding off. The black scales gleamed softly, giving off colours like a puddle of oil. Because her new skin was so sensitive, Shego opted either not to wear anything or be content with a light robe.

Shego pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the mirror, looking into her own eyes closely. Her pupils had started to change. They were stretching out into long thin slits, very much like a venomous serpent's. Along with her changing eyes, the woman also noted that her vision had changed. She was able to see in the dark a lot better and she was able to see heat in her surroundings. At night, just to test it out, she would sit on the roof and watch creatures scurry beneath her gaze, not knowing that the human was able to see them.

With Kim gone, this was what Shego did to entertain herself. Standing naked in front of a mirror admiring her changing body and taking daily inventory. Everyday, it seemed like she changed somehow.

"Kim." Shego let out a shuddering sigh. A part of her selfishly wanted Kim to come back. For Kim to see through her plan and come back for her. But Kim wouldn't. Shego had felt bitter pride as she had cast the spell on Kim, knowing that that spell had been the best one she'd ever weaved. Kim would hate her for the rest of her life. Shego scratched angrily at her hat, then suddenly tore it off and threw it across the room.

Gingerly, the pale-skinned woman grimly fingered what was left of the hair on her scalp. Her long luxurious hair that she had been so proud of... had withered away. Her body had sacrificed those black waves in favour of the beginnings of pale green scales. The pebbly skin underneath made lesions and grotesque bumps under skin, and Shego shuddered at her misshapen skull.

And she had looked so good in cornrows...

'Ugly.' Shego thought wryly. The few strands of hair that remained reminded Shego of this documentary she had seen once on World War II and the dropping of the first atomic bombs. It reminded her of the people who had survived the bombs but had to live with radiation poisoning. Those people who had to watch their hair and skin falling off their bones...

'I should just get rid of it all,' Shego thought irritably. She hated it when she saw men walking down the streets with comb-overs. I mean, who were they fooling exactly? But the fiery woman was loathe to get rid of the few strands of hair she still had. Shego scratched at her dry arms, and hissed in pain as she managed to rake off some raw skin.

"You should not touch," Xaio Qing clucked her tongue. Shego turned slightly to see her master come through the doors, holding a wicker container. "It is itchy, but you must not scratch."

"It is itchy." Shego kept her words to a minimum. Her tongue, she could feel it, was changing also. It made human speech hard.

"It is part of the transformation." Xaio Qing held out the wicker basket to Shego. Her new senses could see tiny creatures scurrying in fear within the confines of the wicker case. Her tongue darted out, tasting the air and she approached Xaio Qing eagerly.

"Please." Shego held out her cupped hands. Almost salivitating at the thought of the food inside. The first time she had eaten what Xaio Qing had brought her, Shego had instinctively scarfed it down, then immediately vomited up her dinner as her human revulsion kicked in. Now, Shego barely thought anything of it. In the back of her mind, Shego realized that it wasn't just the outside of her that was changing. It was the inside too. Some times, she would experience such excrutiating pain as she felt her innards shift. Her mind was going. Her mind... sometimes, she found it hard to think.

"Please, who?" Xaio Qing held the basket out of Shego's reach as the green-eyed woman lunged for it.

"Xaio Qing, please?" Shego asked prettily. Xaio Qing relinquished the wicker basker to her disciple, who tore it open with a passion. Hands reached in and tightened around the furry bodies of mice. Without hesitation, Shego promptly shoved the squirming, terrified animal into her mouth and swallowed it. Before, she had retched at the feel of this live creature wiggling down her throat. Now she relished it, smacked her lips at the thought of the texture of such a meal, the taste...

The family of rodents within the basket went the way of the first one in quick succession. When the basket was empty, Shego dropped it to the ground and sat down, instantly drowsy after her meal of field mice.

"Shego," Xaio Qing hugged Shego close, and the girl snuggled closer to Xaio Qing's warmth, hands and legs winding around Xaio Qing's body. Xaio Qing examined her disciple tenderly. Not quite human, not quite demon. An oddity. The scale Xaio Qing had embedded on Shego's back had been key to the transformation. It would help whoever it had been attached, nurturing the magic in the body in the direction of the form the scale had belonged to. That of a snake demon. Basically, the scale that had been embedded on Shego's back hijacked the woman's body, reworking Shego's biological programming before shedding off of Shego. Foundation set, after the scale had done its work, its magic was woven into Shego's being and it would be impossible to extract it.

'Oh, but she looks so cute.' Xaio Qing giggled at the sight of the reptilian-like Shego. Where Shego, with her still somewhat human mind saw ugliness, Xaio Qing obviously saw something else. So much potential. How would Shego look? Would she be a hooded snake? What patterns of scale would her body be marked with? How brightly would Shego's skin shine after her first shedding? Will Shego be fast in catching frogs with her? Or maybe Shego-snake would prefer the minnow. Xaio Qing picked off a flake of skin gently from Shego's cheek, then stroked the woman's blistering jawline posessively. Shego would never leave her. Xaio Qing would have Shego here forever, and no-one would ever take her away like with Bai Su Zhen.

Xaio Qing tightened her grip on Shego unconsciously.

No-one.

* * *

Kim sat on the corner of her bed, back against the headboard. Her knees were drawn up to her chest. Clutched in her hand was the hard coolness of Xaio Qing's green scale. Like jade. A lot of people mistook the smooth green triangular object for jade.

Sometimes, when she needed a respite from everyone, she would shut herself up in her room and just stare blankly at the wall opposite her bed. Nobody else but Tigger was allowed in the room at this time. Though it worried her family, it was better than when they had first found her.

Tigger had lead Kim out of She Cun and they had both passed that invisible barrier. They kept on walking, with Tigger leading the way and Kim stumbling after him. Tears still dripped quietly out of her eyes. Wandering after the german shepherd pup with no regard for her surroundings, Kim's clothes had been torn in various places from branches Kim hadn't avoided. Dirt and grass stains marked her pants and shirt, showing that she had fallen several times.

Team Possible had found Kim slumped against the base of a tree, unconscious, with Tigger nearby keeping guard.

"Sis," Tim cleared his throat and whispered hoarsely. He was trying to keep the tears back as Jim let his tears flow freely. He had dropped to his knees in front of Kim. Both teens unable to approach their sister, not wanting to touch her, just in case she wasn't real. Wade had called them in a frenzy when he got a bleep on both Tigger and Kim's signal. Everybody just stood there staring awkwardly at the redheaded girl. Monique had a hand placed on Jim's shoulder, just about as overwhelmed as everybody else was. The end of their search. The girl who could do anything.

"KIM!" Ron ran to his friend and hugged her close, not one to hold back his emotions. And that was when the dam burst and everybody surged forward to crowd around in a huge group hug.

"What?" Kim opened her eyes blearily. At the sight of her friends and family in the dim moonlight, her face split in a tremulous smile. "Ron. Monique," Kim managed a smirk. "Tweebs."

"Girl! Where have you been?" Monique ruffled Kim's semi-long hair. It had grown out since Shego had cut it to just around her shoulders. At the thought of the dark-haired woman, Kim's smile fell. She wound her arms around Ron's neck and heaved up a huge sob.

"Don't worry Kim, we've got you!" Ron hugged his best friend tighter, while glancing at everybody else in a rather panicked way.

"Kim, you alright?" Monique did a quick once-over of her friend. Besides being dirty, there was nothing really wrong with her.

"Kim Possible!" Drakken, who had been watching the scene quietly, finally spoke. Green eyes turned to regard him. He fidgeted under Jim's frown, but continued on. "Where... where is Shego?"

Kim looked away at the name.

Drakken asked again, more insistantly. "Where is Shego?"

"Okay, questions will come later," Monique said as she helped Ron heft Kim up. "She needs rest. And Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Possible need to see their daughter."

That had been a month ago. Kim had quickly gone back to normal. As normal as things were before she had disappeared for two and a half years. There were noted differences, of course. Kim Possible had, in her time of absence, honed her fighting skills so sharply that unless you had the manpower to outnumber her, going one-on-one with the heroine was useless. She wasn't as perky as she used to be. It was like... looking at a wilting sunflower. When she had first gotten home, after a tearful reunion with her family, Kim Possible had immediately gone to her room and shut herself up. She came out when called, of course. But otherwise, she shunned people.

Kim tilted her head back to look up at the ceiling, half-expecting to see the wooden rafters of her room in Er Mei. The bed was too soft here, the pillows too fluffed up. Her first dinner back at home, Kim had barely managed to eat. Everything was so radically different. From the food to the setting to the language. It was awkward when, during dinner, Kim had asked in Chinese for her mother to pass the salad.

"What happened during the time you were missing, Kim?" Dr. Director had questioned her, as had everyone else. It was too much to explain. And she didn't feel like explaining.

Tigger laid his head plaintively on Kim's lap and licked her knee, hoping that the woman would feel better. When Kim smiled at him, Tigger's shaggy tail thumped on the mattress happily. Unlike dogs, a show of teeth in humans meant they were happy.

"She's doing alright without me, isn't she, Tigger?" Kim whispered. Her eyes were burning, signalling the onset of tears. "She must be." All Kim could remember about Shego now was how she had told the redhead how she wasn't needed anymore. She wanted to be angry. In fact, she felt compelled to be angry. But she just couldn't. And she didn't want to. "Why am I not alright?"

She couldn't talk to anyone about it. Being out of She Cun and Er Mei, the reality of what had happened hit her. Kim had had a clear chance at the beginning to leave. When Shego had told her all she had to do was lose to Fong in their fight to go back home. Even though Shego had made it clear if Kim had tried to escape, Shego would drag her back, Kim hadn't even attempted to escape. Once, maybe. But in the almost three years with Shego, that was a sad number of attempts.

Drakken kept asking about Shego.

What was she supposed to say?

"Kim Possible... you're such an idiot." Kim whispered. A knock at the door prompted Kim to wipe her eyes, dashing away the tears that had fallen. "Come in!" Kim cursed her voice. High and weak from the bitterness clogging up her throat.

"Hey, Kim." Ron came in and squinted at how dark the room is. "Sitting in the dark? You want some company?"

"I have company." Kim cracked a smile and patted Tigger, who made a happy noise at the attention. "Tigger's a good boy, aren't you?"

While Kim lavished the dog with attention, Ron entered the room and closed the door behind him. He took a seat beside Kim on the bed and waited until Kim ran out of things to say to Tigger.

"You know, nobody really ever told you what happened to us while you were gone, right?" Ron reached out a hand and patted Tigger's stomach. The dog had rolled onto his back, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth, pawing the air and whining for affection. "We really really missed you, Kim."

Kim listened silently as Ron talked about how everybody had handled the situation. Ron talked about how the twins had changed so drastically. Their personalities, which had been nearly indistinguishable from one another before, had developed and grown. The two were very different from each other, with Jim being the more hot-tempered one and Tim the light-hearted one.

"Jim's kind of an asshole," Ron said sheepishly, as Kim laughed. "But Tim's cool, you know? He's what I imagined they'd to be when they're grown up."

"They still seem like the same tweebs." Kim commented.

"Only because you came back, Kim." Ron took her hand in his, holding it carefully. Kim lay her head on the young man's shoulder, breathing out a shuddering breath. Even though Ron couldn't see, he could feel and hear Kim crying quietly. "You know, I missed you too, Kim. And I'll always be there for you, whatever whenever. We just want to know what happened to you. You're so... sad all the time. Your parents are really worried about you."

"Ron. I... I don't want to talk about it."

"Kim, you gotta let it out. Come on," Ron nudged her playfully. "Its the Ronster. You can tell me anything!"

Despite herself, Kim giggled. She had missed her best friend.

"We were so scared, you know." Ron let go of Kim's hand when Tigger smooshed his hands between them, demanding their attention. "Until that letter came, of course--"

"Letter?" Kim's looked up suddenly, cracking her head against Ron's. "Ow," They both rubbed their head, wincing in pain. "What letter?"

"It was like, ripped apart. I think your mom and dad still have it--"

Kim froze for a second then jumped out of bed, and was out of her room in a flash.

"Hey, Ron's here?" Tim had just come back from school. Did he bring over his old SNES--" He blinked as his sister barrelled past him in a hurry. Tim blinked again. His sister was sure in a hurry.

"Kim!" Ron zoomed past Tim. Tim stood there for another second before running after the two. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

"Mommommommommom!" Kim burst into the kitchen. Since Kim had gotten home, Mrs. Dr. Possible had begged off a month to be with her daughter and the hospital had been very understanding.

"What's wrong, honey?" Mrs. Dr. Possible wiped her hands on a washcloth. She had been experimenting with different kinds of food since she saw that her daughter's appetite had gone the ways of the dinosaurs recently.

"My letter, Ron said you received a letter from me when I was missing." Kim blurted out. "Can I see it?"

"Of course," Mrs. Dr. Possible's eyes rested on Tim. "Could you get my purse in the hallway closet, Tim?"

"On it," Tim was gone in a second. The little group consisting of Kim, Ron and Tim sat down around the dining room table, anxiously awaiting for Tim to come back. He returned promptly and gave the purse to his mother.

"Thank you, Timmy." Mrs. Dr. Possible turned to Kim and smiled at her and the young woman smiled back uncomfortably. Everybody acted different around her now. Even though she was back on missions and as Monique put it so eloquently, 'kicking ass and taking names', people treated her like glass. And her parents always seemed to want to just stare at her tearfully. It made the young heroine feel so guilty.

"We were so happy when we got this letter, bubble-butt." Mrs. Dr. Possible fished it out of her purse and handed it to Kim. Tim and Ron snickered a bit but quickly looked away when Kim glared at them.

_To the Possible Family_

Kim's eyes stayed glued to the bold writing at the front of the envelope. The script that addressed this letter to the Possible family jumped out at her. No return address, and apparently no clue as to who sent it. Kim knew, though. She knew. The hints were all there. In the way this person dotted their i's, crossed their t's. The arrogant swirls and loops. The elegeant scrawl.

Shego had sent this.

_"Look." Shego held up the letter. Then without pause, quickly ripped it in four._

'She sent it.' Kim took her letter out of the envelope. It was her letter, her parents had taped it back together. It was during her hardest times at Er Mei, when she had felt so homesick. The first time she had thought Shego didn't care about her.

'She had cared. Maybe she still... no.' Kim silently handed the letter back to her mother and walked out of the dining room, ignoring Ron, her mom and her brother asking her what was wrong. She marched back up the stairs, back into her room and propped a chair against the door so nobody could come in. Tigger had been waiting patiently for her on the bed. Seeing her morose look, he sat up and held out a paw, hoping that would cheer her up. Kim sat down on the bed next to the dog and he patted her thigh with a paw in a comforting gesture.

"Good boy." Kim laughed quietly.

* * *

"You alright, sis?" Jim stuck to his sister like a burr when they went on missions. Kim was touched by how her younger brother was looking after her, but it was getting annoying. It was just a routine mission. DNAmy had decided she needed to make a new polar bear hybrid. So she had decided to go to Canada. Unfortunately for DNAmy, she got as far as British Columbia before Team Possible caught up to her.

"I'm fine." Kim nodded absentmindedly. They had captured DNAmy in the approximate area of Vancouver's Chinatown. And every store seemed to be selling items of red, that Kim had come to associate with joyous occasions. That's right. it was almost time for Chinese New Year's. The hustle and bustle, the different dialects of Chinese flying thick and fast in between people made Kim suddenly feel nostalgic and homesick.

"Ready to go?" Monique approached the siblings.

"Not... really." Kim smiled apologetically. "Is it alright if we stay here for a little bit? I just wanna look around."

"Kim--" Jim started, but Monique quickly shushed him.

"Sure, I'll arrange for our ride to wait." Monique shot Jim a warning look and motioned for him to follow her. He looked ready to argue but changed his mind at the look on Monique's face. "Take as long as you want, girl."

"Thanks, Monique." Kim gave the other woman a thankful smile.

The substitute leader for Team Possible winked at Kim. "No problem. That's what I'm here for."

"Call me if anything, k?" Jim kept glancing back as he was bodily pulled away by Monique. She waited until they disappeared into the crowd before Kim approached one of the stalls. Looking down at the red melon seeds, niangao, candied lotus seeds and various fruits, she smiled.

"Chinese New Year soon," The stall-owner had been watching Kim for a while and beamed a gap-toothed smile at her, motioning to his wares. "Very sweet. Very good."

Kim smiled and licked her lips before trying her Chinese. "I know. Its because of the food that I love Chinese New Year's."

The man almost fell off the stool he was sitting on, then burst out laughing. "Oh, so you speak Chinese! You're very good!"

"I try," Kim grinned, slipping easily into the language she had used almost exclusively for a while. "Could I get some lychee?"

"Its not in season, so its a bit expensive." The stall-owner smiled at her. "How about some longan instead? Its less 'yeet hay'."

Kim grinned. "No, lychee is fine."

"Okay, then. This much?"

"Please and thank you." Kim paid for her purchase and was about to leave but was stopped by someone gently grabbing her arm. Kim looked up into warm laughing honey-coloured eyes and froze in the presence of this creature. She was divinely beautiful, a fact not lost on people in the near vicinity. She had long black hair arranged in two loose braid hanging down her front, almost to her waist. Her features were elegeant and beautifully exquisite, and for some reason or other, reminded Kim of Xaio Qing even though they looked nothing alike. In a long white coat, white pants and a pair of high-heeled white boots; the golden-eyed woman cut a stunning figure. Being caught in the gaze and grasp of this strange woman, Kim couldn't help the physical yearning that welled up inside of herself. It was as if those eyes and that smooth touch had ignited a fire in her belly. All she could think of right now, trapped in that gaze, was to fuck. Her mouth was literally watering at the sight of the woman in white.

"May I have this?" When those golden eyes looked away, Kim felt weak-kneed knowing why as she tried to compose herself. The heroine was in the presence of another being like Xaio Qing. That's why she reminded Kim of Xaio Qing.

The gap-toothed stall-owner nodded dumbly and handed over a small windmill on a wooden wand. The beautiful woman turned back to Kim, holding up the multicoloured wheel with an impish smile on her face. That was when Kim tore her arm out of the woman's grasp and started running. She didn't know where she was running to or why she was running. Just something told her to make a break for it. Not to get involved with snake demons, mythical beings or Shego ever again. Kim ducked into an alley and ran, zipping by astonished people, busy with their shopping.

Maddened by her need to put as much distance between the stranger and her as possible, Kim ran until she was lost and breathless.

A flash of white at the corner of her eyes.

Ducking quickly into the open sidedoor of an abandoned store, Kim pressed herself against the wall beside the door, trying to calm her breathing.

The door inexplicably slammed shut, and Kim drew in a quick breath as she spotted the woman sitting on a chair in the middle of the empty store, playing with the bright colourful windmill.

"Why do you run away from me?" The woman in white asked curiously.

Trapped.

"Because," Kim inched towards the door frantically.

Golden eyes caught her and stilled her. "I don't want you to leave."

"I don't have to listen to you people." Kim's hands tightened into fists.

"You people?" Eyes filled with mirth. "So you know what I am?"

"A snake." Kim spat out.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Why would you think that?"  
"Because I know." Kim crouched down in a ready position. If she couldn't flee, then she'd fight!

The redhead dropped her bag of lychees and lunged forward but was unpleasantly surprised as her punch was stopped by the woman in white, without the woman even raising from her seat. Kim tried to kick upwards, but her leg was stopped effortlessly by the woman once again.

With an enraged yell, Kim let loose a flurry of attacks, all evaded or stopped by the golden-eyed woman. Finally, tiring of the attacks, the woman's hands shot out quickly, lithely pressing several pressure points on Kim's body and stopping her movements.

"Why do you attack me?" The woman stood up and approached Kim curiously, studying her. Suddenly, her eyes fell on the green scale that hung around Kim's neck. "You've met a snake, I see."

"Yes." Kim's heart was beating irregularly at the close proximity of the golden-eyed woman. The woman in white held her face gently, gloved hands warm against the sides of Kim's face. Then she leaned forward and placed her mouth over each eye, kissing them softly.

Kim blinked and shook her head, feeling something irritating, like sand, fall out of her eyes.

"Amateur," The lady in white scoffed. Kim had a feeling the woman wasn't addressing her. She tapped the green scale Kim wore around her neck. "The spell would've worked perfectly if you didn't have this. Whoever wove the spell should've been aware of that."

The irrational urge to flee left Kim as did the paralysis on her limbs. About to thank the woman, Kim was, to put it lightly, surprised as the stranger surged in for a passionate kiss. The redhead's knees buckled underneath her, but Kim didn't fall. The woman in white held her up effortlessly despite her smaller frame. An icy thrill took hold of Kim, each kiss stealing some of the warmth from her chest, making her heart hammer with adrenaline.

Finally, when that icy feeling was starting to branch out into Kim's stomach, the golden-eyed woman retreated to get some air, smiling mischievously.

Kim thought she saw something red at the corner of her vision...

'Odd,' The heroine thought, drunk on the woman's affections. Looking down lazily, Kim sobered up right away when she realized what she was looking at. Trailing out from behind the golden-eyed woman, a long red furry tail, tipped with white fur, flickered from side to side.

"AH!" Kim tripped over her own feet and fell to the ground. Scurrying away backwards, she watched the golden-eyed woman laugh at her reaction.

"Why are you so surprised?"

"You're a-"

"I am called a 'Hu Li Jing', by the Chinese." The fox demon grinned, showing pointy canine teeth. "My name is Yinchun. But my English name is Fox."

"Fox?" Kim raised an eyebrow. "That's real creative."

"Its supposed to be funny! Honestly, instead of sarcasm, you could laugh a little. Its a clever joke. No gratitude at all for breaking the spell on you I see." The fox rolled her eyes while tucking her luxurious tail back under her white coat and scoffed. "Humans."

"Hey, you stole a kiss from me!" Kim blushed. "You got your gratitude!"

"I had to steal it." The fox pouted, an incredibly sexy pout at that and Kim felt herself drawn to Yinchun. "You could've shown your gratitude by initiating it."

"I can't, I'm involved with someone." Kim blurted out without thinking, surprising herself. But she hadn't felt this confident in a long time. Kim Possible had someone she liked. Someone who had dumped her, but the redhead was resolved to get that person back or get a better explanation from that certain someone. Somehow, Kim wasn't satisfied with Shego's act from before.

"There." Fox seemed to sense the change in her and smiled. "Do you feel it? You can think more clearly now, can't you?"

"What happened?"

"Fish scales on your eyes." Fox replied. "Someone was trying to blind you to the truth. It was a well-weaved spell, a good beginner's spell. But of course, not good enough to stop me."

Kim was about to thank the fox demon, but stopped, suddenly suspicious. "Why did you do it?"

"Help you?"

"Yes."

The dust swirled around Yinchun's immaculate white shoes as the fox demon circled Kim slowly, the windmill in her hand spinning sporadically. Kim watched the golden-eyed woman warily, noted that even though Kim's own shoes were splattered with slush from the sidewalks and the bottom of her cargo pants had soaked in a great deal of moisture, Yinchun was spotless from head to toe.

"Well, I have a party to go to some time in the near future. I was hoping since I took the spell off you, that maybe you'd come with me?" Fox clasped her hands in front of herself pleadingly. "It would be so much fun with you!"

"Why me?" Kim asked cautiously. Instead of blindly making a decision, Kim questioned the request. The heroine's mind felt decidedly... fresh. Sharper.

"I could just take anybody, you know?" Fox's voice took on an offended tone. "But I chose to take you!" Fox paused to glance at Kim sideways. Seeing the woman didn't look moved, the fox demon sighed. "Well, I don't want to bring just any human. That wouldn't be fun at all. But you, you're special!"

Kim was certain that Yinchun's eyes had strayed to the green scale that hung from the slim gold chain around her neck.

"No, thank you." Kim replied carefully. The fox demon pouted, but shrugged a bit too casually, dropping the subject a bit too quickly. Which only made Kim more suspicious. Kim had expected the fox demon to continue trying to convince her to go to this party. Perhaps it was because Kim could think so much more clearly, that the leap from confusion to awareness made her overly conscious of everything.

"Your friends will be here soon, so I'll be seeing you." The fox skipped over and pecked a kiss on the side of Kim's mouth. Flashing Kim a bright smile, Yinchun vanished in a rush of wind that momentarily kicked up the filth in the room, blinding the redhead.

"Kim?" Ron ran through the door, the rest of Team Possible following close after him.

"Guys," Kim coughed, trying to wave the dust away from her. "Hey."

"Why'd you run off?" Monique asked. "We were worried, girl."

"You guys are tracking me?" Kim got over her coughing fit and frowned at her friends and family.

"Just in case!" Jim and Tim said simultaneously.

"S'alright," Kim looked around the abandoned building. There was no sign of Fox, or where she had gone. The only exit was the one Team Possible had come through. The front door of the store was boarded up.

'Maybe I'm imagining things,' Kim frowned. But that fog in her mind had cleared for sure now, and she was certain that she had just had a conversation with a fox demon.

"This yours?" Monique picked up the bag of lychee. Kim paused when she saw a multi-coloured windmill peeking out of the bag.

"Yeah." Kim smiled.

"What are these?" Ron dug into the bag and took out the round fruit with the rough, leathery rind.

"Lychee," Kim smiled. She reached into the bag and took out several lychees, passing them around. Rufus examined his curiously.

As everyone stood around trying out the new fruit, the gears in Kim's head was turning quickly.

'I need to get back to Er Mei.'

Getting back to Er Mei was easier said than done. It seemed like the team was always around. And she was almost under constant surveillance. Not that Wade was watching her with little cameras Big Brother styles. Just that she knew if she left Middleton suddenly, Wade would know via the transmitter implanted in her body and all of Team Possible would be alerted and come chasing after her. She wouldn't get ten miles out of Middleton before everybody came gunning for her. She would make it... but she'd have every law enforcement agency working with Monique and them to bring her in. Not that she had time to herself to sneak away, anyways. She was constantly barraged by friends she didn't know she had, well-wishers and just the usual suspects.

Days passed while Kim plotted. But it seemed like she wouldn't need to plan her return.

Monique and Kim had whiled away the day mallrat-ing until it was time for the mall to close. Refusing a ride home firmly, Kim walked on the darkening streets of Middleton back to her house. As she walked along, she noticed a child sitting on the edge of the sidewalk with a man next to her, as if waiting for someone. They were sitting just beyond the pool of light from the streetlamps that were just flickering on, and Kim approached curiously. As she got closer, the man looked her way and stood up somberly upon seeing.  
She froze in place as she recognized the robes, of a Buddhist abbot.

"Kim!" The child got up from her seat and bounded towards the young woman. "Kim!"

"Ting Ting!" Kim embraced the little girl, alarmed, her attention split between the monk and the child. Kim's Chinese immediately kicked in. A bit rusty, but by the third syllable, she had the hang of it again. "What are you doing here?"

"Aren't you happy to see me?" the precocious child pouted, doing a perfect impression of Kim's puppy-dog pout.

Kim melted in the face of the pout. "Of course I'm happy to see you! But... this is such a surprise!"

"Uncle brought me! I wanted to see you!" Ting Ting said, an insistant tone in her voice and tugged at Kim's hand. "You have to come back."

"Why?" Kim suddenly did a double take when she saw the grim look on Nam Ho's face and the frantic one on the little girl's. "Is something wrong?"

"Ms. Possible, even though I don't want to involve you in this any more than I did at first," Nam Ho grimaced. "It seems I might have to beg you to come back."

"Why?" Kim was instantly suspicious.

"To save a life."

Kim immediately kicked into hero mode. Above all things, Kim was a hero. "What's the sitch?"

"The person you will be saving... is Shego."

Icy fear clenched her heart, and for a moment, she couldn't breath. Her vision whitened at the edges as she struggled to collect herself.

"Kim!" The tiny hands that clenched hers tightly strengthened her and brought her back to the present. She smiled gratefully at the little girl, then looked at Nam Ho sharply.

"What's wrong with Shego?"

"You'll know when you see her."

"Why can't you just tell me?"

"You'll see." Nam Ho repeated. He knelt down and Ting Ting ran to him, climbing up to ride on his shoulders. With Ting Ting safely astride her uncle's shoulders and holding on by her uncle's ears, the asian girl looked at Kim pleadingly.

"Kim, please."

Despite not trusting Nam Ho, Kim gave in to the child's plea. "Okay, I'll call in a favour to get us a ride--"

"That's quite alright. By the time your ride can get us there, it will be too late. We have our mode of transportation right here." Nam Ho held out his arm to the side. At once, there was a loud echoing cry, like some great bird of prey was making its presence known. The sky suddenly brightened as a great winged creature flew down from the sky, its entire body seeming to radiate with an inner fire that made the air before it shimmer. Alighting on the monk's arm, the bird's brilliant eyes studied Kim warmly, and it let out a gentle cooing trill. "This is Feng. He has agreed to help transport us."

"You..." Kim was suddenly entranced by this mythical creature. It preened in her presence, showing off its multicoloured feathers proudly. Even though the bird was a mix of black, white, red, green and yellow feathers; the random colours did nothing nothing to detract from the dignity of the bird. "I've seen you before."

When she had first slept at Er Mei. Kim had glanced out the window and seen the bird circling the house. So she hadn't imagined it.

"I wouldn't be surprised." Nam Ho nodded to the bird, and the bird replied with a grave incline of his head. "This phoenix has a mate, Huang; and they have been watching you for a long time. Should we go?"

Kim made plenty of split decisions in her life. And she didn't think she regretted even one of them, ever.

"Yes."

Feng spread his wings and raised his head, letting out another loud cry. A circle of flames suddenly scorched a circle around the four.

The circle of flames grew, roaring upwards, transforming into a huge pillar of fire. Just as suddenly as the fire started, it died; and when it did, the people and the bird that had been in the center of that inferno were gone.

* * *

endnote. Almost, guys. Almost. 


	30. Reunion

Reunion

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - R.

author's note: this is the end, guys. Well, not yet, there's still the epilogue that ties things up nicely. This chapter is a big one. How many words? How many pages? I dunno. I hope you like it, you find any mistakes and I'll correct it quicktimes. And yeah. That's it. Hope you guys enjoy it, and ALL WILL BE REVEALED AT THE END IF IT'S NOT CLEAR NOW! (If there's anyhting that you're still unclear about, please tell me before the epilogue comes out).

* * *

An alarm started went off in Wade's room, and the teenaged genius almost fell off his chair, startled from the game he was playing. He immediately tried to get a connection on Kim. No dice. Last known location? Smack dab in the middle of Middleton. 

What?

"How the hell did you manage to disappear from Middleton?" Wade muttered to himself. Team Possible would have to be alerted. "Where the hell could you have gone?"

A name flashed across his memory, remembering the work they had done, trying to locate the whereabouts of Kim. She Cun. Could Kim have been taken back there? Who was powerful enough to get past his technology? His hands clenched into fists. He hated this feeling of helplessness. Despite LORDING over the technological world and

"Wade, what's--"

"--the sitch."

Of course it'd be the twins first. Wade could see the tension in Jim's shoulders, while Tim was more guarded, ready for anything.

"Is everything okay?" On Wade's screen, a pop-up suddenly appeared at the corner. Drakken was in a pink apron and holding a duster. "I never knew the henchmen had to clean so much... there's dust everywhere!"

"Keep it up, Dr. D!" Tim gave the blue man a thumbs-up. "You're doing great."

"Why thank you, Tim." Dr. Drakken beamed, happy that someone appreciated his cleaning abilities.

"Okay, guys, shut up for a second." Jim sighed, frustrated with the interaction between his brother and Dr. Drakken. Another pop-up appeared, showing Monique clad only in a towel, hair dripping with water.

"This better be good," growled Monique. "You pulled me from my shower."

All the men stared at Monique's state of undress, her hot, wet body drying up all intelligent thought--

"Oh, for god's--" Monique disappeared from the screen and came back in a robe that covered a lot more. "Okay, what's up, guys? Where's Kim?"

Wade cleared his throat, a serious look on his face. "That's exactly the problem."

* * *

"Congratulations," The Raccoon-dog demon bowed respectfully to Xaio Qing, who sat on the raised dias with the silken screen behind her. The green snake was dressed in white and green robes, her hair put up into a jewelled headdress. A shimmering cloth that seemed to pulse sporadically was tied to Xaio Qing's right hand and trailed behind the screen, apparently connected to Shego. 

"Thank you," Xaio Qing's chest puffed out in pride as she looked about the large dining hall, seeing the many demons mingling amongst each other. Upon their arrival, they would immediately go to Xaio Qing and offer their well-wishes. The silken screen had been finished, and a ferocious open-mouthed black and green snake rested on the right side of the screen while a green snake rested on the other side. Behind the screen, the shadow of a cloaked person was visible.

"And... Shego, is it?" The Raccoon-dog looked past Xaio Qing, squinting at the shadow behind the screen. The figure dipped her head once, in acknowledgement. "Congratulations."

Shego's head tilted lower to thank the Raccoon-dog demon, but she didn't say a word. With a final bow, he excused himself and went to the feast. Transformed carp served and entertained the guest, as they ate and celebrated. The party had been arranged by Xaio Qing, who looked like a kid on Christmas day. Demons of all sorts filled the hall. Most resided on Er Mei, and came to pay their respects. There were others, who had come from far and wide to attend this curious gathering. The invitation had come as a surprise to many. Who would have thought that the reclusive Xaio Qing had taken on a human disciple who was on her way to becoming a snake demon?

"Things like this just isn't done. This is ridiculous." The Rabbit demon muttered, sipping at his drink. Decked in a handsome blue robe with a long sleeveless jacket, the Rabbit demon cut a handsome figure, with his well-defined jawline and his slight but beautiful build. If it weren't for the long white rabbit ears that sprouted from where human ears should be and his shocking bright red eyes, he could easily pass for human.

"Then why don't you leave?" The skittish Mouse demon asked. He had foregone any sort of human disguise, and had instead, chosen to come in his true form. He stood at five feet, a huge mouse with fine whiskers that twitched ever so slightly as he lapped at his drink. Once in a while, he would groom his velvetty fur nervously.

"Ha. Before Shego's fully transformed? I really think Xaio Qing would kill us for that insult." Rabbit crossed his arms.

The mouse managed a nervous smirk. "If you go first, I'll follow."

Rabbit shook his head and smiled at his friend. "Why did you come anyways?"

"Same reason why we," Mouse motioned to the rest of the smaller demons, "are here." Mouse's ear twitched. "I hope I make enough of an impression so when Shego's a snake demon, she won't eat me."  
"Maybe you'll make enough of an impression that Shego would try to find you as soon as she finishes her change." Rabbit teased. Even though Mouse's fine downy fur covered most of his body, Rabbit could tell that Mouse had paled considerably.

"I'm joking." Rabbit said reassuringly, patting Mouse's forearm. Mouse tittered nervously and downed his drink in one gulp. This was definitely not a place Mouse wanted to be. Not only was he deathly afraid of Xaio Qing and Shego, he was surrounded by carnivores. Sure, Mouse was a demon and was about fifty years old, a fine old age; but he still retained some of that instinctive fear of the natural predators of the mouse. Which was everything bigger than it. A tiger had come to Xaio Qing's party, his deep laughter reverberating through the room as he reclined with some carp-women on downy pillows. Owl had shown up, and even though she had the body of a woman, her head was still that of a fierce looking bird of prey. A clan of wolves prowled the dining hall, decked out in matching furry coats that looked similar to their pelt in animal form. Even in human form, the way they held themselves, just the way they acted made it apparent as to what they were.

It was like a reunion of sorts for many of the demons who hadn't seen some of their world-trotting family members. Using the party as an excuse, several families were having an impromptu family reunion. One such demon race were the foxes.

"Yinchun, come here!" Her mother clucked, trying to catch her daughter as she ducked around her family members in a desperate attempt to avoid the other fox.

Yinchun dodged her mother and scowled at the elder fox. "Ma! Not in public!"

"Nonsense, I'm your mother! Why are you so shy? I've groomed you since you were a blue-eyed kit!" The woman, who didn't look more than a few years older than her daughter, managed to grab Yinchun. With an inhumanly long tongue, she started licking her daughter's head, slicking down hair that had been held up in a sort of fashionable mullet.

"No! Ma, no! This is embarassing!" Yinchun moaned and tried to squirm away. She cast frantic looks at her siblings, who just shrugged and grinned.

"Hey, we got it too, so you deal with it." One of her brothers barked out a laugh while her sisters just tittered in amusement. "And believe me, she's doing you a favour. Mullets are NEVER in style."

"They are in France right now!" Yinchun said furiously. Her face elongated to a snout and she nipped her mother's arm. The mother fox let out a yelp and released her daughter. Yinchun's face had changed into that of a beautiful red fox. The fur at the top of its head had been groomed until there was a part in the middle, and Yinchun rubbed at it furiously with her hands.

"Who bites their mother! Bad child!" Yinchun's mother smacked the demoness on the snout, and Yinchun let out a yelp, but did not stop glaring balefully at the woman who gave birth to her. "You never visit anymore! Are you trying to make me believe that you don't want to see your family?"

"Yes I am! Is it working?" Yinchun ran away before her mother could smack her again, sitting down at Xaio Qing's feet. The snake demon laughed delightfully as her friend sat there panting, tongue lolling out of her canine mouth which was slowly retracting and transforming back into a human face. Her hair, to Yinchun's annoyance, was still parted in the middle and refused to change from its current hairstyle.

"Do you like the party, Yinchun?" Xaio Qing asked and held out a hand to Yinchun.

"Course," Yinchun nodded and took the proffered hand. Xaio Qing squeezed her friend's hand. They had known each other a long time, when Yinchun had been a normal fox with no powers. She had been the most adventurous and fearless of her litter. A long time ago when Yinchun still had baby down on her body, she had wandered bravely into Xaio Qing's house and tried to make off with a slab of meat for her mother. It was too big for the little one to carry, of course, and Xaio Qing had come back to see the tiny kit trying to drag a pound of beef away. Xaio Qing had been in one of her good moods that day and had made a gift of the meat and even carried the tired kit home to her grateful mother who was just happy Xaio Qing hadn't eaten her wayward daughter.

"How long?" Yinchun motioned with her head at the shimmering cloth tied to Xaio Qing's wrist.

"Not too long now." It was the matter of forcing Shego's body to relinquish its humanity. The scale that had been embedded at first, helped. Xaio Qing was impatient though, and connecting master and disciple together would quicken the process. Despite Mouse's misgivings about having two snakes on Er Mei, the majority of the guests were glad that Xaio Qing had found a companion to replace Bai Su Zhen. After the white snake died, Xaio Qing had been... a bit unstable to say the least. Yinchun had been the only demon ever who had dared breach Xaio Qing's inner sanctum and survived. Xaio Qing was known in the area to be prone to violence when things didn't go her way and her mood swings were incredibly unpredictable. Even though Xaio Qing's territory was rife with demons because it was a veritable haven what with the shield Xaio Qing had set up, these demons didn't dare misbehave. They knew if anything happened to the villages under Xaio Qing's protection, they could expect to be skinned alive. Even the great Tiger didn't dare eat a human from a village that was paying tribute to Xaio Qing. They especially knew not to touch She Cun.

"Now, you must have been to a lot of places since your last visit. Mrs Fox has said that you are very much like the great aunt you were named after. Never able to keep still." Xaio Qing stroked Yinchun's head, and the fox demon thrummed happily.

"Well, I--"

The doors banged open, interrupting Yinchun. At the doorway, a very familiar redhead stood there, heaving from the run she just had. Cheung and some others had been guarding the steps leading up Er Mei. Ting Ting and Nam Ho had sprung into action, holding the defenders at bay, allowing for Kim to get to the top quickly. Ting Ting and Nam Ho made it clear how urgent it was for Kim to stop whatever was going on before it neared its completion. She didn't know what she was supposed to stop, but now she felt really awkward at barging into what was apparently a party. Various demons rose from their seats, eyeing the human warily.

"Xaio... Qing..." Kim asked breathlessly. "Where... is Shego?"

"Kim, how good of you to come!" Xaio Qing stood up from the dias. Yinchun cast a glance at Shego, who had stood up in agitation. The screen was tall enough to still keep Shego from the view of the guests. "Come eat! We will feast!"

"Xaio Qing," Kim felt a shudder rip through her body as she finally took a good look around. A large mouse stood there, nibbling on a large piece of cake it had in its paws. A man with rabbit ears. An upright wolf with a woman's head. A large muscled man lounging on an ocean of pillows who's... orange and black striped tail was waving back and forth. There were also so many other things in the room that looked very human, but were not. Or stood on all fours, acting very much like an animal but was not. Then there were those in between. Kim knew what they were. Demons. And the seeming head of this gathering? Xaio Qing. Right beside the green snake, someone was waving at her and trying to get her attention. It took a few moments to recognize who it was.

"Hii!" Yinchun greeted Kim in a sing-song voice.

"Fox." Kim pressed her lips together in a disapproving grimace. She felt that overwhelming need to throw the fox-demon down and ravish her again... but Kim didn't feel uncomfortable with this feeling anymore. She knew why the Fox caused such a reaction in her. Kim had done her homework. Foxes in Chinese mythology (Kim laughs now everytime she hears the word 'mythology') were enchantresses. Seductresses and tricksters.

"If you were going to come anyways, why didn't you want to be my date?" Yinchun pouted.

"Bring the girl something to drink!" Xaio Qing clapped her hands, and carp-people scurried to obey. "She looks parched."

"No, thank you." Kim shook her head, refusing drink. "I came to see Shego."

"I don't want to sssee you." The voice sounded muffled from behind the screen and shocked the redhead. The voice, raspy and with an audible lisp, was so drastically different from the sultry, teasing tones that the heroine was used to. But she would recognize this voice anywhere. It was Shego, she was sure of it. Kim zeroed in on the shadow cast on the silken screen and walked determinedly towards it. "Kimmie, go home."

"I am home." Kim paused. Shego's voice was just so soothing, even though her message was harsh. Her voice was so comforting even though it was unwelcoming. And Kim yearned for the other woman. She blinked her eyes, hoping she wouldn't cry and took a deep shuddering breath. "I'm right where I belong. With you."

"What don't you not understand about leaving me alone?" Shego hissed desperately. "Didn't I make myself clear last time? I don't want to see you!"

"I don't believe you. Didn't you say you loved me? I don't think you could change your mind like that." Kim argued, a teasing smile on her lips to hide the hurt.

"What?" Xaio Qing's voice was pleasantly vacant, but there was a dangerous gleam in her eye.

The room fell dead silent.

Mouse and Rabbit inched towards the exit and left quietly. A few others took the cue too and made a break for it. Tiger also, had risen from his reclining position and started herding out the demons that weren't too keen to pick up on Xaio Qing's anger. This would not be pretty. And even he, feared by all, feared Xaio Qing. It was very much how someone would fear a mad dog.

'Because, indeed, she is mad.' The Tiger-demon picked up several young foxes on his way out, struggling to hold the squirming kits in his arms until he growled softly, causing them to fall limp in submissive fear. 'Mother would definitely agree with me.'

"I don't want to be with you." Shego said firmly. "You're mistaken. Please leave."

"You're such a bad liar, Shego." Yinchun yawned and got up from her seat. Her long red tail had made itself known again, waving gently behind her.

"YINCHUN. What do you know that I do not know?" Xaio Qing asked. There was a definite aura of rage running off of Xaio Qing in waves, timed with her shaky breathing as she repeated herself. "What do you know that I do not know?"

"My dearest friend," Fox smiled sweetly at Xaio Qing. "Exactly want I said. There's something definitely going on between the two."

"There isn't." Shego stepped out from behind the screen, and Yinchun watched with interest. She had been curious as to why Shego hid behind the screen. She was sorely disappointed to see the young woman draped in the layers of a heavy black cloak, concealing her visage quite successfully. "Kim. Leave."

Kim's eyes fixed on Shego, Fox forgotten, Xaio Qing forgotten. Underneath the rolls of the heavy cloak, was Shego. Kim needed to see her. "No."

Shego stretched out her arm, a slim dainty hand revealing itself from the long sleeves. She clenched the hand into a fist. Kim was alarmed as she was lifted a foot up in the air, held up by nothing.

"I said... LEAVE!" Shego flung her hand out, and Kim went flying. She recovered midair, twisting so she would fall correctly and rolled back on her feet.

"Let me see your face." Kim approached again. Her shoulders squared and jaw set in determination. Shego knew it well. Kim wasn't going to let this drop.

"Will you leave if I do?" Shego asked quietly.

"No."

"What will make you leave?"

"I'm not leaving, Shego."

"Why are you being so stubborn?" Shego growled angrily. "What don't you understand about no meaning no!"

"Why are you talking like that?" Kim asked, picking up the drawn out s's in Shego's speech.

Shego sighed. Slowly, her hands reached up to the hood of her cloak and pushed it back.

"Oh my god... Shego." Kim held a hand against her mouth in horror. The initial physical transformation was well under way. Shego's face was a mass of irregular bumps--tiny new scales--that reminded Kim of a bad case of hives. They criss-crossed Shego's beautiful face, marring the perfection, making it grotesque. Her long hair was all gone now. The skin on the villainess' head was peeling still, black new scales, shiny under transluscent milky green skin. Eyebrows were gone, and where they were, bony ridges protruded. Her nose was flattening across her face, the cartilage looking as if it had given out. One of Shego's ear appeared like it was... rotting. The other ear didn't look good either.

"Are you happy now?" Shego asked. She felt infuriatingly embarassed. She had been okay, with only Xaio Qing there to look at her. But the green snake's opinion was held in a different regard than Kim's. Xaio Qing telling Shego she was beautiful brought her a little pleasure. Flattery had always pleased Shego. It was Kim's compliments that made Shego blush and become tongue-tied. The thought of Kim thinking she was ugly... made Shego incredibly depressed.

"Amazing," Yinchun breathed out. Shego's forked tongue flickered out, testing the air.

"Leave, Kim. Forget about everything here." Xaio Qing said softly. "I have... re-evaluated my opinion of you and your presence here today. You have ruined my party. I like you, Kim Possible. So I will let you leave. You have ten seconds to vanish from my sight. I do not wish to see you again, ever, Kim Possible. If I do..." Xaio Qing let the threat trail off.

"Xaio Qing--"

"Shego." Xaio Qing's distress rose. "Be quiet."

That command left a bitter metallic taste in everyone's mouth. They could... taste Xaio Qing's power. It oppressed the room with its sheer weight. Shego fell silent immediately giving Kim one last look before she bowed her head in defeat.

"Ten..."

"I'm not leaving." Kim said resolutely. Yinchun looked nervously from Xaio Qing to Shego to Kim. This was getting out of hand.

"... nine... eight..." Xaio Qing's face was shifting.

"Run, Kim." Shego didn't bother to try to keep the panic out of voice. Xaio Qing paused in her countdown and closed her eyes. Sorrow rocked her to the core at the sound of Shego's voice and she swayed on her feet unsteadily. Where she lacked confirmation before, Shego's alarmed, worried call gave her irrefutable proof. You could only ignore the truth for so long. Xaio Qing's face stretched back, as if she had suddenly gotten a rather drastic face lift. No longer was Xaio Qing's face that of a beautiful woman. It was a lot more reptilian. And her eyes bulged out, glowing a sickly green colour bleeding out into a vibrant amber. Pupils dilating, lengthening. The change happened in less than a second.

"Zero."

Everything happened in slow motion. Kim had spent enough time with Xaio Qing to recognize this move. Kim had done it enough times with the guzheng. Xaio Qing didn't need a medium to gather up the attack. Kim knew, when that force hit her, it would slice through her with a cut so fine she wouldn't even know it until she fell apart. Kim closed her eyes, knowing and accepting the fact that she would never be fast enough to dodge it.

"Kimmie!" Shego's scream seemed distant. Like she was hearing her scream underwater--

"Xaio Qing, stop." Yinchun's voice was very close. The redhead opened her eyes to see the fox-demon in front of her. They were surrounded by a clear, transparent bubble.

"Yinchun, MOVE." Xaio Qing's voice boomed and echoed around the large room, sending the fox-demon flying into the woman she was trying to protect. When they untangled themselves, Kim had a distinct impression that Xaio Qing was... growing.

"We're going, NOW." Shego was in front of them and had untied herself from Xaio Qing. Grabbing their wrists, she whisked them away, recalling quickly a spell she had learned by heart. Back at the beginning when she had tried to gather the means to escape Xaio Qing, the spell had been one of them. Shego had practised it to perfection. There was no escape, Shego knew that now. After many failures, she looked back at how she had tried so hard back then, and she laughed bitterly. There was no escape. And as they disappeared from the dining hall, Shego knew it was only a matter of time before the green snake found them. With Xaio Qing's infuriated roar echoing in their ears, the three fled.

* * *

Nam Ho clutched his side, knowing that a few ribs must be bruised, fractured, or broken. He had fought desperately, and now he would lose. Nam Ho was an extremely adept fighter. But so were the inhabitants of She Cun. He was one of them, he should've known. One, he could confidently take them on and win. Two? Fine. Three? He'd struggle. With a lot of luck, maybe even win. Four, five, six? It was only a matter of time until he lost. He had only lasted this long because he practised several martial arts styles that his life as a monk had taught him. He surprised his opponents. But they knew how to adapt. And they had been cruelly toying with him for the past half-hour. Dealing out as much pain as possible to the traitor. Right now, they waited patiently as Nam Ho sat sprawled on the steps trying to catch his breath. 

"Give... up?" Nam Ho wheezed, and flashed a grin at his younger brother. The other man smiled grimly. He had faired a bit better than his older brother, with only a split lip and a splatter of bruises.

"That's a question I should be asking you, dai lo."

"You know our family," Nam Ho glanced over at Ting Ting. She had been caught near the beginning and was trying to struggle out of her captors' grip to no avail. "We're a stubborn breed."

As the fighters made at Nam Ho, there was suddenly an explosion of fire in between them, blinding the fighters briefly. It took a few seconds for their vision to clear, and when it did, they were met by a motley crew of teenagers, a blue man, two animals and Huang. Feng flew to the other phoenix right away and let out a fierce cry of alarm at how her feathers had greyed, reflecting how exhausted she felt. Huang gave her mate an admonishing chirp, sternly stopping him from fussing over her.

"I have you," Nam Ho limped over and held his hand out to Huang. The phoenix climbed on, and he placed her on his shoulder where she rested wearily. Feng fluttered up to Nam Ho's opposite shoulder. "Thank you, madam, for coming to my aid."

Huang cooed softly and leaned her head against Nam Ho's cheek.

Seeing this scene, Team Possible turned on the six fighters.

"Six against one is a bit unfair, isn't it?" Drakken's finger rested lightly on the trigger of his ray gun. It was small, but it packed a helluva punch. The others were similarly armed with some kind of weapon. Jim had a hand on Tigger's collar, holding the dog back carefully as it bared its teeth in a ferocious snarl. Tim and Monique were wearing some sort of brass knuckles... really, gauntlets that encased their hands and emitted a dangerous high-pitched humming noise. Ron had Rufus, and looked around the surroundings nervously. He could feel it. It was that odd feeling that came off Shego, except this time, it was multiplied a hundred-fold.

"Help my friend, and I promise you I will bring you to Kim Possible." Huang's voice sounded like tiny bells ringing together.

"And Shego?" Drakken cast a glance backwards at Huang, while keeping his gun aimed at the six fighters.

"And Shego." Huang agreed. Meanwhile, Cheung was studying the german shepherd with a frown on his face.

"Blackie?"

Tigger stopped growling for a bit and wagged his tail. Jim frowned at the man and tugged at Tigger's collar gently to get the canine's attention. Tigger lowered his tail immediately and conjured up a grave expression to his doggy face.

"Sir?" Monique spoke slowly, hoping the Chinese man holding the phoenix would understand her. "We're here to help you."

"I know." Nam Ho replied in English and smiled. "Thank you."

Monique turned back to the two factions who were regarding each other warily. A sudden movement from one side was the spark that started it all. Team Possible exploded into action against the residents of She Cun.

* * *

"We should keep going." Yinchun struggled to get up, but Kim pushed her back down. They were resting in an old fox hole that was surprisingly large. The entrance had been nearly impossible to squeeze through, and Kim had been afraid that the dwelling area would be small and claustrophobic. Kim hadn't expected the tunnel to open up to a fairly large chamber. She also didn't expect the foxhole to be furnished with a small dining table on which rested a small earthenware pot with matching cups. There was even enough room for a small bed in the corner where Yinchun was resting on. 

"You're wounded, you can't even move." Kim said admonishingly. Yinchun grimaced. Xaio Qing's first attack had been blocked enough that it didn't cut off her leg, but it had still managed to hit her. As it was, it was a deep wound, one that would take some time to heal. Her healing time was MUCH shorter than a human's, but it still hurt like hell. It could've been worse, though. Yinchun could've lost her leg. They fell into silence again. Shego sat in the corner, hood pulled down low over her face so no-one could see her, curled up as tightly as she could into herself.

"Go talk to her," Yinchun whispered. Kim had been giving Shego furtive glances since they had stopped to rest, but didn't approach the other woman.

"You think I should?"

"Do it." Yinchun nodded and smiled encouragingly. Kim returned the fox-demon's smile with a doubtful one. Taking a deep breath, she walked the three steps over to Shego and crouched down in front of her. At first, they didn't say anything. Finally, a sigh came out of that cloaked mass.

"What do you want?"

"We need to talk."

Shego chuckled. "Figures."

"Why did you drive me away?"

"Because I didn't want you here."

"Why?"

Shego looked up, even though her face was draped in shadows, her eyes were visible. "If you hadn't come back, none of this would've happened."

"None of this? What is this?" Kim reached out and tried to brush Shego's hood from her face. But Shego was faster and caught Kim's hand, giving a quick shake of her head.

"Don't."

"Why not?"

Locked in a battle of wills, they tried to stare each other down, with Kim winning easily.

"Fine. Do whatever you want." The defeat in Shego's voice scared Kim. Shego never gave up. But here she was, resigned and defeated. Those words didn't fit with Shego. Like forcing a jigsaw piece into a part of the puzzle that it wasn't supposed to be in.

Kim flipped off Shego's hood, and stared at that face that looked so vulnerable. The two stared at each other as if searching each other for something. Shego watched apprehensively for the disgust she knew must be coming. But it never came as Kim held that changed face, leaned forward and kissed Shego tenderly.

"Do you still want me to leave?" Kim asked and smiled, in Shego's opinion, too sweetly. When Kim leaned forward again, this time, Shego closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the cool kisses on her face. Her name on Kim's tongue sent unexpected thrills down her spine as the redhead breathed out "Shego" with every sigh. Shego was powerless to stop herself from hugging Kim close, a huge relief washing over her. Selfish relief, of having Kim back here, where she belonged. With Shego. Kim's tight embrace made her feel loved and dashed away Shego's insecurities about her metamorphosis.

"Why did you come back?" Shego whispered the question in Kim's ear, squeezing Kim to her as hard as she could. "You could've been safe. You could've been far away from here. I let you go."

"I wasn't a prisoner here." Kim said firmly. "It was my own choice, remember?"

"Was it really?" A flash of guilt crossed Shego's face. "You don't know the whole story."

Shego could feel Xaio Qing trying to search for her. She would find them, undoubtedly. There was no place in the world Shego could go to hide from Xaio Qing.

"The abridged version, if you please." Yinchun piped up, giving Shego a cheeky wink when the snake-woman glared at her.

"You know how this all started. The elders told you the story." Shego's eyes turned back to Kim when the redhead tugged on her hand plaintively. "I followed Fong into the village."

For some odd reason, Shego had passed the shield, easily following Fong back to She Cun. As said before, Shego had helped fight off the monk invaders, and had garnered the goodwill of Xaio Qing.

"She offered to give me anything I desired. And beating you seemed like a good idea at the time. Xaio Qing could make me stronger, faster--"

"The million dollar woman?"

"Ha ha. Funny." Shego deadpanned. "Now you wanna hear the story or not?"

Kim settled back into Shego's arm. When there were no more remarks forthcoming, Shego continued with her story.

"Fong and I had slowly gotten... closer. When Xaio Qing found out, she wasn't happy at all. You remember Bai Su Zhen, right?" Kim nodded, and Shego continued with her story. "When Bai Su Zhen died, Xaio Qing saw the white snake's death as a direct consequence of her romantic involvement with Xu Xian. So Xaio Qing has this thing now, where if someone she cared about liked anyone besides her, she'd go crazy worrying that they'd leave her. So me attached to someone else just wasn't good in her books. To make a long story short, I ended up pretty beaten up. After that, I just tried to escape again and again."

Escaping was no use. Xaio Qing just dragged Shego back kicking and screaming. It was on one of the many escape attempts that Xaio Qing had asked Shego if she hated her.

No matter how trapped Shego felt, she couldn't bear to hate Xaio Qing. Shego didn't have much friends. Her winning personality and biting wit kept people at bay. Xaio Qing, Fong and a few others were about the only people who could not only stand her, but liked her. Shego understood what loneliness was. Being Drakken's right-hand woman was a glorious, but lonely profession. And she could empathize with Xaio Qing's need to keep her here.

"No. I don't." Shego winced in pain as Xaio Qing's nails dug into her shoulders. It was a little like battered wife syndrome. Shego just couldn't muster up the strength or will to hate the green snake. How could you hate someone who was begging in your arms?

"Do not leave, Shego, please. Do not leave me alone. I would be all alone up here without you. Please."

"I can't stay," Shego whispered, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. But Xaio Qing picked up on it. The pressure of Xaio Qing's fingers increased. Shego let out an involuntary whimper as Xaio Qing's grip on her shoulders started testing her pain threshold.

"If I broke both your legs, how will you leave?" Xaio Qing let go of Shego's shoulders to hug her close, possessively.

"I would die here, Xaio Qing."

"I won't let you die."

"I can't stay with you. This isn't where I belong."

"Where do you belong, if not here?"

Shego remembered a redheaded young woman, outside the boundaries of Xaio Qing's mountain and her village. Odd that she didn't think of Fong first. But her role as Drakken's second-in-command gave her an identity outside of Er Mei and She Cun. That was where she belonged. "Somewhere else. Not here."

"Of course, that wasn't the right answer." Shego grimaced. "I'm surprised I didn't die that night."

The look of horror on Kim's face made Shego quickly correct herself. "I'm exaggerating."

Kim let out a sigh of relief. Shego caught the look Yinchun was giving her and she narrowed her eyes at the fox demon. Yinchun shrugged and looked away.

"So what happened after?" Yinchun prompted.

"Xaio Qing said I could leave on the condition I find someone to replace me." Shego twined her fingers through Kim's red hair, remembering how Xaio Qing had bravely suggested the alternative to Shego, offering her disciple a way out. Shego's eagerness to escape was expected, but Xaio Qing had still flinched at the eagerness on Shego's face that time. "Someone who didn't know what entailed staying with the green snake. I lied to the villagers at She Cun and told them Xaio Qing was looking to find another person to train, and everyone about jumped at the chance. I couldn't possibly take Fong, because I was so afraid Xaio Qing would kill her. And I couldn't take anyone from She Cun... I had... gotten to know everybody too well. I needed someone interesting that would keep her distracted and make her forget me. So I chose you, Kimmie. You would take my place." Shego remembered how Xaio Qing had stoicly ripped off each new scale Shego had grown by herself, and cheerfully told Shego that she would use the extracted scales to make herself something to remember Shego by. It had hurt so much. But how much had it hurt Xaio Qing?

"I would leave and Drakken would finally take over the world because there wouldn't be a person in the world who would be able to stop me with you gone. I kept you here, docile and unknowing. Xaio Qing weaved enough spells to keep you befuddled anytime you thought deeper on the subject of why you were here."

"Why didn't you continue with the plan?" Kim asked impishly to lighten the mood.

The reptilian woman was caught by surprise by the question and looked away in embarassment.

"Come on, Shego." Kim pouted. "Why not?"

"Cuz." Shego said sullenly.

"Cuz what?"

"Cuz I ...you know." Shego replied, still in that sullen tone.

Yinchun grinned and resisted the urge to giggle insanely. She loved watching people who were obviously crazy for each other. But now, there were more pressing matters as a growing sense of forboding filled her. She met Shego's eyes, and saw for a brief moment, panic in them. Yinchun was impressed that Shego didn't bolt right away. It took great strength of will for the person that Xaio Qing's wrath was directed at not to run.

"What is that?" Kim frowned, feeling Xaio Qing's anger. The uncomfortable feeling of one's soul being weighed down and the growing sense of fear.

"That," Yinchun said as Shego got up, pulling Kim up along with her. "Is the feeling a prey gets when it knows a predator is hunting it. We leave now."

"Take the fox and run for it when I distract Xaio Qing." Shego brought Kim's hands up to her lips and brushed clumsy kisses against them, feeling incensed that her transformation had deprived her of proper lips to kiss with. She would draw on her own anger to try to counter the crippling affects of Xaio Qing's. Most snakes had the power to freeze someone to the spot with their presence, killing the instinct to fight or flee. Xaio Qing had ample amount of that talent, and on their hunting forays that Xaio Qing had been taking her on recently Shego had seen many animals frozen to the spot, unable to move. Those that could fight that crippling power chose to flee, and Shego had never seen one stand to fight except for one tiny swallow sitting on its eggs. Upon seeing Xaio Qing's approach, it fluttered at the serpent, beating its wings in Xaio Qing's reptilian face and trying to lead it away from its tiny clutch of two eggs.

"A wolf ran away as soon as it saw me. A wild pig stood frozen and could not fight even when I wrapped around it. Can you answer my question, Shego? What makes this bird different than the rest?" Xaio Qing reared up to glance at the eggs in the bird's nests curiously. Shego, saliva dripping from her mouth as she watched the bird flitting around, could not answer. Xaio Qing lowered back to the forest floor and continued on her way.

"Not eating?" Shego asked in disappointment.

"No, that bird is spared."

Shego had been blinded by her primal side before but she could answer now. The bird wanted to protect its young. Corny as it was, the bird shook itself out of its fear to protect.

"No, I'm staying with you." Kim said firmly.

"So if you stay with me, who's going to help Yinchun get away?" Shego pointed out.

"Hello? Still here. I can hear you guys." Yinchun was trying not to be annoyed. They were talking about her like she was just a fifty year old demon, barely able to defend itself. Honestly!

Kim glanced over to Yinchun, eyes pulled to the wound on the fox-demon's leg. Then she looked at Shego desperately.

"I'm no hero, Kim. I'm not gonna sacrifice myself. I'll be alright," Shego conjured up a smirk on her scaley face. "I'm just gonna divert Xaio Qing. I'll meet you at the bottom of the mountain, alright?"

"You promise?"

"Yeah, sure." Shego smiled. Xaio Qing was getting really close... they could all feel it. And in the distance, they could hear some huge creature roar, shaking the earth. A fine sprinkle of dirt showered down on them. Kim leaned towards Shego. One more kiss. Shego let herself enjoy it, savoured this gesture. Kim was something else. How could you kiss something that looked so monstrous?

"Later!" Shego's voice was a bit too cheerful. She gave Yinchun a nod, then left the way they had come in. Kim turned to Yinchun and tore up bedsheets to replace the makeshift bandages on Yinchun's legs, which had soaked through with blood. Kim tended to the wound in silence. Another roar, and both fox-demon and woman looked up towards the ceiling. It wasn't directed their way. Xaio Qing had changed paths.

"You know she was lying, right?" Yinchun watched the redhead bend her head, attention back on Yinchun's leg. "She's not going to meet us at the bottom of Er Mei."

"I know that." Kim said tersely as she tied a neat knot. Fox looked at the dressing on her leg, impressed. Kim wasn't the daughter of a brain surgeon for nothing.

"What are you gonna do about it?"

"What else?" Kim helped Yinchun up. "Go after her." Kim paused, a though suddenly crossing her mind. "We've got to go back to Xaio Qing's place first."

"What do you expect to find there?"

A plan was forming in Kim's head. As Yinchun readied a transportation spell, the redhead looked up when another roar echoed through the earth. Kim Possible's hands strayed to the scale strung around her neck. When Shego had ripped Xaio Qing's scales from her back, she had felt so... under-nourished after that. Starved. She had tried to play out an attack, but hadn't even coaxed out a papercut from her music.

Kim still didn't get the logistics of magic use. But... maybe.

In a flash of light, they were back on Xaio Qing's sprawling estate, which, Kim thought with a wince, had seen better days. The building that had been the dining room had been demolished completely. It looked like something had clipped the corner of Kim's room, and the building was sagging on one side, the roof in danger of falling completely. The courtyard looked like it had been struck simultaneously with three kinds of natural disasters. The carp-people were nowhere to be seen and her first step into the wreckage immediately told her what had become of them. Feeling slightly nauseated, she stepped out of the mess that had been a carp-person. There were bits and pieces of fish and what was transformed fish all over the place. The only thing that seemed to be standing unscathed was Xaio Qing's room.

"Stay here for a bit, I'll be right back." Kim left Yinchun at the door and picked her way through the debris. She had the layout clearly mapped in her head. Finally, the redhead stopped in front of a pile that used to be a pavilion. Getting to work quickly, Kim hefted beams aside, straining to clear a path to her goal. Finally, she saw it. The light reflected off the tightly strung strings of the guzheng. Miraculously, it had survived the destruction. Carefully, Kim cleared the debris off the guzheng. Taking her necklace off, Kim wound the gold chain around her right hand. She had also researched in her spare time in Middleton. Modern guzheng players now taped little plectrums on their fingers to play the strings. Kim had been taught to play it without plectrums. Then after Shego had ripped out her scale, Xaio Qing had changed tactics and taught Kim how to play with the extracted green scale. Why?

Carefully, Kim played a melody with just her fingers, relieved to see that the guzheng was in tune. Now, with the scale in hand, she played the same tune. With a flick of her wrist at the end of the song, she watched for that almost unseen telltale sign... a ripple in the air... it hit a wooden beam that lay a few feet away, and Kim watched in satisfaction as it split in two.

A noise behind her made Kim whip around, guzheng resting on the ground with one hand supporting it and the other quickly plucked out a fast and deadly chord.

"Kim--!" Yinchun held up a white piece of cloth, just barely managing to block the attack. To Kim's surprise, the piece of cloth seemed to block the guzheng's music. The redhead was sure Yinchun hadn't thrown up a personal shield.

"Ohmygod! Are you alright! I'm so sorry!" Kim tucked the guzheng under her arm and ran towards Yinchun.

"I'm alright. God. That could've taken off my head!" Yinchun said accusingly.

"I'm so sorry! I really didn't mean to! Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Yinchun accepted the apology grudgingly. The beautiful fox-demon held up the cloth. It was the screen in the dining room, the one with the two snakes on it. "This... stopped it."

"What is it?"

Yinchun fingered the seemingly fragile cloth, rubbing the material between two fingers experimentally. "Its made of scales and silk and thread. Xaio Qing... made this. She's woven in a lot of magic into it."

"What is it?" Kim asked again. She reached out a hand to touch the motif of the green snake on it. "And why would she make it?"

"This is just a piece of magic woven together. The simplest to use, but the hardest to make. The more powerful of our kind usually make things like this. And why? Its a way of showing off. If you have the skill, you would want to make something like this, leave tokens of your power around as a benevolent gesture to mortals. This thing she made, it reacts to the user's thoughts and tries to do its best to obey. Watch," Yinchun covered her hand with the cloth. Then, with a "Presto!" she drew the cloth off and on the palm of her hand was an apple.

"See, regular non-magical people can do that with sleight of hand." Yinchun offered the apple to Kim, who took a tentative bite of the fruit. Her teeth broke through the taut red skin and into the delicious apple. "But THAT apple was made by magic. You think, and it creates or transforms. It brings forth into being and adapts. Like how I was praying that I wouldn't get cut up by the guzheng."

Kim cringed in embarassment. "I'm SO sorry."

"Eh. Accidents happen." Yinchun suddenly looked towards the entrance, or what remained of the entrance, of Xaio Qing's home. "And... it seems we have company. Lets go greet them."

They left the ruins of the house and were just in time to see Nam Ho, with two similar-looking birds on his shoulders topping the steps with Team Possible in tow.

"Kim!" Her brothers and Ron (who had carried Ting Ting on his back) ran towards her, almost toppling her in a fierce embrace. Tigger loped after the boys, with Rufus riding on top of the german shepherd's head, holding onto the canine's ears. Drakken and a tired looking Monique followed.

"Here is your Kim Possible." One of the birds spoke, her feminine voice betraying her sex.

Drakken faced the birds angrily. "Where is Shego? You said Kim AND Shego!"

"That I have, doctor." Kim finally put two and two together. Nam Ho had mention there were two phoenixes. The female phoenix was Feng's mate, Huang. "Rest assured, I keep my promises. Please, follow me. Nam Ho--"

"Of course, Lady Huang." Nam Ho set off in the direction Huang nodded towards with Drakken following closely.

"We're going too." Kim knelt down to allow Yinchun to wrap her arms around Kim's neck rode piggyback. Yinchun could barely hobble through the wreckage with her injury.

"My sentiments exactly." Jim nodded. "We've got to bring her and Drakken to Global Justice to be tried."

"No." Kim shook her head, sparing Jim a glance. "We are not. We're going to save her."

"Save her?" Jim spat out the word, as if it disgusted him. "Are you crazy, sis!"

"It wasn't her fault." Kim could see Monique leveling a hard look at her. Before the other woman could say anything, there was a loud screaming roar that shook the trees.

"What was that?" They had been following after Nam Ho, and the abbot stopped and walked back to the group that had paused at the strange cry.

"That," Nam Ho reached up to pat Feng on the back soothingly as the phoenix let out an indignant response to the roar. "Is what is the cause of all of this."

"Yo, Jim, this is totally Jurassic Park!" Tim said excitedly. Everyone had quickened their pace.

"You think maybe its a t-rex?" Jim's eyes were wide with excitement too. Even though their personalities had developed quite differently from each other, they still shared the same basic interests.

"Maybe we'll get to try out our new gloves on something bigger, eh, Mon?" Tim grinned at the black women, who held out a fist to the teen. Tim tapped it with one of his own, causing sparks to fly out between their gauntlet-encased hands. "Hoosha!"

"I'm surprised whatever that is didn't explode," Kim scoffed at the gauntlets.

Tim clenched and unclenched his hands as they continued running. "Hey, tested it today. These babies are--"

"--within the accepted test range." Jim finished.

"Tested it on what? Tweebs, please tell me you didn't test it on a person or something."

"Man, they deserved the beating they got anyways." Monique put in. "They were having it in for the good monk over there."

Kim had a sinking feeling in her stomach when she saw Nam Ho glance back at her and then quicken his pace to a jog.

"Did one of the people you tested your gloves on have a peach fuzz haircut? And a diamond stud in his ear?"

Team Possible nodded.

"Yes, that was one of them." Dr. Drakken panted. The blue doctor didn't get much exercise. "Your brother, Tim, should maybe think about taking up professional boxing, Kim Possible."

"You think?" Tim squared his shoulders and started humming the training theme song to 'Rocky'. Dr. Drakken, Ron and Rufus joined in, and they all ended up cracking up. Jim just rolled his eyes. He would never say it, but he was a bit jealous that Tim was getting along so well with the blue man and everybody else. Tim was HIS brother.

"Is he alright? The guy with the stud earring?" Kim got their attention again.

Ting Ting answered. "Yes, Cheung is fine."

Kim gave the child a weird look. Ting Ting had been acting... strange. Addressing her father by his name was part of the strangeness too. And the child looked sick and pale, her face drawn into a frown as if she was in pain. Before Kim could question the child, Yinchun interrupted her thoughts.

"We're near." Yinchun snapped her fingers to get everyone's attention. "Okay, quiet, everyone! I wanna hear what's going on!"

Since she spoke in Chinese, the people who didn't understand just exchanged puzzled looks.

"Who is she and what did she just say?" Jim stage-whispered.

"I don't know," Tim replied. "But she's hot!"

"She is all that!" Dr. Drakken agreed.

"I know!" Monique joined in on the conversation, gushing, "I think I'm in love!"

The boys all looked at Monique strangely. She blinked and almost tripped over her own feet. "Woah. Lesbian moment."

"I don't mind." Jim gave Monique a lopsidedly grin, which earned him a super-powered punch to the arm. "Ow! I think you broke my arm!"

"Sh!" Yinchun looked back at the group again. They obeyed immediately, and Kim rolled her eyes. They had come upon a clearing. And even if Yinchun hadn't shushed them, the sight of a huge green serpent would've shut them up. The snake was a good several metres long, and sprouting out of where the head should be was the upper torso of a naked woman. The snake-woman had her back to them, facing the large limestone cliff that shot up skywards. Its shoulders shook in dry sobs, as it held a body.

Kim felt her heart stop.

"Shhh... its alright Xaio Qing... please don't be angry..." Shego's voice prompted Drakken to try to call out, but Tim and Ron quickly clamped they hands over the mad scientist's mouth. Kim Possible felt her heart start beating again. Shego was alive.

"Why does this have to be difficult, Shego?" Xaio Qing wailed. The green snake pushed back to better look at Shego, giving the group a glimpse of what Drakken's righthand woman had become. Everybody had heard Xaio Qing refer to the person in her grasp as Shego. Shego's voice was barely recognizable, but still hers. Her physical appearance was something else. Tim and Ron were glad they had their hands firmly clamped over Drakken's mouth, his screams muffled by their hands.

"I won't leave, Xaio Qing. Please, let go. It hurts..." Shego pleaded hoarsely. Kim felt angry for Shego. Nobody made the proud brunette beg! Monique was meanwhile looking at the clearing, noting that there were clear signs of conflict all around. The African-American woman could see that parts of the ground in the clearing were stained and scuffed with blood. She shuddered briefly. Everybody was horrified and entranced by the huge snake-woman and the metamorphed Shego, including Ting Ting who had climbed off of Ron's back and was staring at Xaio Qing intently.

"Why do you want to leave?" Xaio Qing was shaking Shego, apparently not hearing what she had said before. Deaf and blind to anything but her own pain. Xaio Qing didn't seem aware of the look of agony on Shego's face, or the blood leaking out of an ugly jagged wound on her disciple's shoulder, that almost severed her arm from her body.

"I'll be right behind you, Kim." Yinchun whispered.

Huang nodded at Shego. "She can't last long."

The redhead didn't need anymore prompting. She felt the comforting weight of the guzheng under her arm and Yinchun stepping out with her.

"Get away from her!" Kim said loudly. Xaio Qing whipped around to face Kim, her tail quickly winding around Shego and slamming her against the cliffside, holding the metamorphed woman captive.

"You let her go!" Drakken finally managed to free himself and started firing indiscriminately at the large serpent. The shots bounced off the large snake harmlessly, its eyes only on Kim. Xaio Qing's eyes darted to the musical instrument in Kim's hands, and then Xaio Qing pointed at the redhead.

"YOU. THIEF. YOU DARE TO STEAL FROM ME?" Xaio Qing hissed, eyeing the guzheng. Kim tried to speak but the green snake continued talking, not giving her an opening to give a defense against the accusation. "I GAVE YOU A CHANCE TO LEAVE. NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF IT WERE NOT FOR YOU!"

"Why did you come back, you idiot!" Shego screamed at Kim. "Why didn't you leave like I told you to!"

"You think I'd listen to you!" Kim screamed back. She was angry at Xaio Qing. Angry at Shego. Angry at things being so hard.

"Shego! Get down from there right now!" Dr. Drakken ordered.

Shego blinked a few times, seeing Dr. Drakken for the first time. "Dr. D?"

"Shego!" Dr. Drakken was bawling now. "Shego, where have you been--"

"Move!" Shego's warning gave Team Possible just enough time to scatter as Xaio Qing crashing headlong into their midst.

Surprisingly, Ron was the first one jumping into action. There was something... different about him. With a screeching scream, he jumped onto the snake's back, managing to hold on quite well as he bit and scratched at Xaio Qing, his attacks reminding everyone of a berserking monkey. Xaio Qing tried to buck him off, howling as the man actually made marks on the parts of her body that resembled more human than snake. Being confronted with so much of a monkey's natural enemy had overwhelmed Ron's human senses. The rational part of Ron's mind couldn't deal with the fear Xaio Qing inspired, so it left the Tai Shing Pek Kwar master in him to deal.

"Ah!" Rufus held onto Tigger for dear life as the german shepherd dodged away from Xaio Qing's wildly squirming form. Tigger did a quick turn and launched itself at the snake's body, but skidded off the scales, yelping as he landed on his side. Rufus had managed to hang on throughout the whole thing, and now patted Tigger's forehead worriedly. "Doggy?"

Tigger made a short growling bark in response and got back to his feet.

"YINCHUN... YOU TOO!" Xaio Qing writhed agitatedly, as if in pain. The green snake threw Ron off and the blonde man hit a tree, stunning him. The wounds Ron had inflicted were quickly closing, healing. Xaio Qing raised her hands, then brought them down in a sudden, deadly gesture. Yinchun held up the silk screen just in time to block whatever power Xaio Qing threw at her. It reflected off the silk motif and bounced back at Xaio Qing, marking a hit on the snake's hip with a thin line of blood. Monique and Tim, meanwhile, had fired up their gauntlets.

"Full power, lets see what this will do," Tim grinned at Monique. While Xaio Qing had been distracted, they had snuck up as close as possible. Now they raised their fists high above their heads, energy crackling dangerously around their weaponized fists.

"Hickabickaboo?" Tim grinned at Monique.

"Whatever." The dark-skinned woman rolled her eyes and smirked.

"Hoosha!" Tim whooped and they simultaneously brought their fists down on the long body. Xaio Qing howled in pain as the electricity managed to pass the protection her scales provided and shocked her.

"Watch out!" Kim winced as Tim and Monique went flying into the outskirting forest. Kim set down the guzheng and played a jarring melody, each note slicing through the air and leaving thin cuts all over Xaio Qing's skin, even managing to scratch Xaio Qing's pristine scales.

"YOU DARE!" Xaio Qing roared and spun around, forgetting about everybody else again and centering on the redheaded heroine. In her distraction, she had dropped Shego.

"Shego, get up!" Dr. Drakken hissed, hoping he didn't attract the snake's attention. "Get up! We have to go!"

"Dr. D, why'd you come?" Shego struggled to her feet. Kim saw what Drakken was trying to do and cast around for Ron, finally catching the blonde man's eye, communicating silently to him. They've been best friends forever, and being able to interpret silent looks was part of the whole 'best friends' package. Torn between wanting to fight with Kim and doing what Kim asked; Ron stood there for a few seconds, indecision holding him in place. Another desperate look from Kim spurred him into action.

"Here," Ron ran to the cerulean doctor and held up Shego from the other side as Drakken struggled to drag her away, both of them careful of her shoulder wound.

"Why are you here too?" Shego asked angrily.

"No, 'thank you, Ron'. I shoulda expected it." Ron grunted. He tried his best not to look at Shego when he talked to her. Just the feel of the smooth scales of her arm brushing against the back of his neck made him queasy.

"I didn't ask for your help." Shego snapped back and pushed away from the two men, half-running, half-limping back to Xaio Qing.

"Xaio Qing!" Shego shouted. "Xaio Qing, stop!"

The green snake turned away from Kim immediately, and the redhead stilled the strings of the guzheng, placing both palms on the strings and stopping the deadly music.

"Shego," Xaio Qing bleated. "Do not leave me. Please do not leave me!"

Xaio Qing slithered to Shego slowly and lay down at the woman's feet, arms encircling Shego's waist.

"Shego--URK!" A white ring of glowing Chinese characters surrounded Xaio Qing's neck, and Nam Ho stepped closer, his lips moving silently, prayer beads wrapped around his hands. The two birds on his shoulders had taken flight, emitting a low clicking noise in their throats. Xaio Qing's arms suddenly clapped to her side, and she fell to the ground, eyes wide in surprise, unable voice her surprise. Nam Ho was obviously the persons responsible for the hold on the green snake.

"What are you doing!" Shego tried to grab Xaio Qing's shoulders with her one good arm, but was repelled.

Nam Ho paused to glare at Shego. "Saving you! Run for it!"

Shego stood there, still unwilling to leave her master's side.

"Shego!" Kim's call made the other woman look away from the bound Xaio Qing. Kim held out a hand to Shego, pleading with her. "Come with me."

Shego looked at Kim, then back to Xaio Qing. The green snake renewed her struggles, managing to crack the bind on her voice.

"She...go... Shego..."

"Come with me, Shego." Kim asked again.

Shego didn't need to be asked a third time. She stumbled to the redhead and just about threw herself at Kim, to the surprise of Team Possible. Holding onto each other tightly, Shego took in deep shaky breaths, feeling Kim's tears wet against her cheek, adding her own tears to the mix.  
"Why are you crying?" Shego pulled back and smiled, her eyes inadvertantly fell on Xaio Qing. Hiccupping and bound in the dust, the green snake was trembling and shaking her head in continuous twitchy movements, mouthing the word 'no' over and over.

"I'm sorry." Shego bowed to Xaio Qing. "I can't do this, Xaio Qing. I can't--"

"RUN!" Nam Ho roared, visible strain on his face as the grief on the green snake's face was changed into one of rage. Shego looked at Xaio Qing, almost in regret, then turned away. Leaning heavily against Kim, Shego made her escape.

"Well, then..." Yinchun snapped her fingers. She suddenly disappeared, clothes falling to the ground in a pile. In the midst of that pile was a beautiful red fox with a handsome white-tipped tail. Said fox had a wound on its leg, and it busied itself with limping away.

"Yo, did you--"

"--see that!" Tim finished the sentence. Both him and Monique had just picked themselves up and came back into the clearing just in time to see Yinchun's transformation.

"Guys, less gaping more running!" Jim noticed the injured fox and whistled to his dog. Tigger perked up attentively.

"Tigger, go get it!" Jim pointed at Yinchun. The fox yelped when she felt Tigger pick her up by the scruff of her neck, and went limp instinctively.

"Good boy! Now, follow!" Jim glanced at the struggling half-snake half-woman nervously. She was... growing. Parts of her bulging grotesquely. It was definitely time to leave. Everybody followed Kim and Shego's example and ran for it.

In a few seconds, there was nobody at the fight scene except for Nam Ho, the mystical birds and Xaio Qing.

"MONK," Xaio Qing hissed. She was getting so large that her girth had burst through some the binds on her body, granting her movement of those parts. Sweat dotted Nam Ho's forehead. His whole body was sore from the beating he had gotten, but he had to do this. Just a little bit more. Give them a head start.

"MONK, WHEN I AM FREE, I WILL GRIND YOUR BONES TO DUST."

"I would beg your forgiveness, grand auntie, but I think I would be wasting my breath."

"YOU ARE RIGHT, TRAITOR. HAVE I NOT GIVEN YOU EVERYTHING, NAM HO? HAVE I NOT SHIELDED YOUR ANCESTORS PAST? HAVE I NOT GIVEN SHE CUN EVERYTHING IT NEEDED?"

"You have, auntie." Nam Ho grimaced as he strained underneath holding Xaio Qing. "And I am no traitor. You might not realize it, but guarding She Cun is bad for you."

"SHE CUN IS MY EVERYTHING." A bit of the madness left Xaio Qing's eyes. "I HAVE NURTURED AND WATCHED IT SINCE IT WAS YOUNG."

"You've done an excellent job. But maybe its time you went elsewhere." Nam Ho grunted.

"TRYING TO DRIVE ME OUT OF MY HOME?" Xaio Qing's eyes took on that half-crazed look again. The last few magical binds broke and Xaio Qing lunged at Nam Ho.

* * *

There was a loud explosion, back the way they had come from. Kim stopped in her tracks, and looked back, dread filling her when she saw twin dots in the sky--the phoenixes. But what about Nam Ho? Even though she wasn't on good terms per say with Nam Ho, leaving someone behind to face the large demon wasn't something she felt good about doing. And... where was Ting Ting! 

"Kimmie, we don't have time to smell the roses." Shego had one hand clamped over her shoulder.

"Ron... where's Ting Ting?" Kim asked. "The little girl, where is she?"

Ron's eyes widened in panic. "I... I don't know."

"Tweebs, Mon. Get Shego out of here." Kim ordered. The three that Kim had singled out for the job exchanged looks then started protesting all at once.

"Girl, I know you ain't thinkin' of going back--"

"What! I'm not--"

"--leaving! You've got to be--"

"--crazy to think that! We're--"

"--secondly, who you think you are ordering me around--"

"GUYS!" Kim had tried to get a word in edgewise, but that hadn't been possible. Her shout got their attention, though. "This is NOT up for discussion. Do it NOW." Everybody, including Shego, was stunned into silence by Kim's commanding tone and the lack of a 'please and thank you'. Kim forced a smile on her face. "I'll have Ron here--"

"And me!" Yinchun had become a woman again. A very naked woman who had the snake-stitched silk screen barely covering her private parts. Everybody tried not to gape at her.

"And Yinchun," Kim said dubiously then became serious again. "Now take her and go."

"You can order them around, princess, but not me." growled Shego in Chinese after she had shaken herself out of her stupor.

"You're right." Kim replied in English. She suddenly spun and kicked Shego in the head, catching the reptilian woman before she hit the ground.

"Shego!" Dr. Drakken aimed his gun at Kim, but a quick punch from Jim knocked the doctor out too. Kim, who hadn't paid any attention to Drakken when he tried to shoot her, was checking Shego worriedly before setting her down on the ground with a tenderness that continued to surprise everyone.

"Jim, take Drakken too."

"I'll go if you agree to keep Tigger with you." Kim agreed quickly and Jim obediently hefted the blue doctor onto his shoulder, setting off with Tim and Monique following after with Shego between them.

"I can't order you to do anything, Shego." Kim whispered as she watched the group retreat. "But I can damn well make you."

"Just the two of us, Kim?" Ron gave his best friend a winning smile.

"The four--five of us." Kim held out a finger to give Rufus a tiny high-five while Yinchun gave Tigger a pat on the head. The sound of trees crashing to the ground in the distance made everybody nervous.

"Ready?"

"Nope!" Ron replied cheerfully. "No big though, right Kim? Team Possible, old skool stylez!"

Ron high-fived Kim cheerfully.

"Me too!"

Ron high-fived Yinchun too.

"Booyah." Kim agreed and the trio started back the way they came. They didn't have to go far since Xaio Qing had been seeking them out too. The glint of Xaio Qing's now fully reptilian body could be seen in the near distance. Their good cheer left them when they realized that the slowly approaching snake had doubled... tripled... quadrupled in size. Trees parted like grass in her wake. Instead of heading directly towards them though, the snake turned to the left.

"What is she doing?" Ron squeaked.

Kim had a sinking feelin in her stomach as it suddenly dawned on her what was happening.

"She's making sure that we don't have an exit." Yinchun realized, just a step behind Kim, watching Xaio Qing circle around.

"You were always very smart, Yinchun. So why did you suddenly decide to not be smart and go against me?" Xaio Qing chuckled as her head came into view. The green snake's head was the size of a small car and her eyes were the headlights. Kim moved the guzheng protectively in front of her, fingers ready on the strings.

"Kim Possible, I taught you well, so..." Xaio Qing reared up, tongue darting out to taste the air. "Maybe you can offer me more than a few seconds of entertainment?" Then without another warning, Xaio Qing shot forward.

Kim dodged out of the way, frantically playing on the guzheng. The melody stabbed deep into Xaio Qing, the green snake's howl marking the first hits. Ron, meanwhile, was climbing up and onto Xaio Qing's body. Deftly avoiding Xaio Qing's crushing coils, he raced towards the head. The monkey master in him knew instinctively that the only weak spots right now were in the head, in those hypnotic eyes.

A warning bark was all he got before Tigger barrelled into him with Rufus riding on the pup's head. While Ron had been concentrating on running to the head, he hadn't been aware that Xaio Qing had turned to seek him out. Fangs passed by perilously close to his body, ripping off his pants.

"Good boy!" Ron praised, making a mental note to repay Tigger with a lifetime of steak as soon as they got out of this mess. Patting himself down to make sure all there, Ron ran back to engage, sans pants.

While Kim was concentrating on driving attack after attack into Xaio Qing, Yinchun was literally lighting a fire underneath Xaio Qing. There was plenty of fuel around since Xaio Qing was quickly reducing the mountainside to firewood. And with the snake screen in hand, Yinchun found out that her powers had risen exponentially.

"Xaio Qing, calm down!" Yinchun shouted up at Xaio Qing. But the green snake was beyond listening.

* * *

"Kimmie... what... Kim?" Shego opened her eyes, brought to consciousness by the jolting gait she was being carried away at. 

"Welcome to the waking world, girl." Monique motioned to Tim to stop. They slowed enough to put her on the ground. The substitute leader of Team Possible started tearing at Shego's cloak and used the make-shift bandages on Shego's damaged arm. "Looks like you're okay."

"Looks like she fell off the ugly tree and hit every spiked branch along the way." snorted Jim. He dropped the unconscious cerulean man on the ground. Dr. Drakken groaned when he connected with the earth, but he didn't wake up.

"Yo, cool it Jim." Tim warned his twin brother. Tim had caught the self-conscious look on the reptilian woman's face just before it turned into a sneer.

"He didn't mean that." Monique slapped Jim on the arm and he scowled at her. "He's usually really nice."

"Whatever," Shego rolled her eyes and struggled to her feet. "He obviously has some issues he's gotta work out, and I'm not staying around to play therapist. I gotta get back to Kimmie."

"Hold it," Jim grabbed her forearm, making sure to put as much strength into his grip as possible and felt viciously elated at the pain that flashed across the woman's reptilian face. "Kim told us to--"

"--get you away from here." Tim finished enthusiastically.

Shego looked from one to the other twin and shook her head incredulously. Almost scornfully, she took hold of Jim's hand and flipped him over her shoulders. "First rule: you don't touch me."

"Hey, now, that wasn't nice." Monique watched Shego warily while helping Jim up.

"I could imagine." Shego tched. "That's why, to make sure it doesn't happen again, none of you touch me. Second: What the hell is wrong with you people? Kim tells you to sit and stay? Guard and watch? Grab me and run for the hills? What the hell kinda friends are you?" Shego turned to Jim, wanting to hurt this boy who obviously held some kind of grudge against her. "What kind of brother are you? Even my dumbass brothers wouldn't run off when I'm in trouble!"

"Hey, we're here for Kim, aren't we? Where the hell is your family!" Jim countered.

"Yeah," Shego rolled her eyes as if Jim was an idiot. "Didn't I make it obvious that my brothers are useless? When I left, so did the brains of Team Go. I wouldn't expect them to find me and if they did, that means hell froze over. Now get outta my way."

Shego breezed past her three would-be guards, back the way she came. Monique, Tim and Jim looked at each other then at Dr. Drakken.

"Leave him here?" The twins asked simultaneously.

"He's a big boy. He'll be alright." Monique agreed. The three quickly ran after Shego to join in the fray.

* * *

"That was fun," Xaio Qing hissed, smiling grimly. The green snake had shrunk down back to her half-human half-snake state. With the silk screen draped over her shoulders, she glanced about the clearing, observing the havok she had just wrought. Yinchun held Tigger close to her, trying to wake the unconscious dog. A glancing blow from Xaio Qing had smacked the faithful dog against a tree. He had fallen with a loud yelp and hadn't gotten back up. Ron was pinned underneath a length of Xaio Qing's scaly body and Rufus was trying in vain to help his master. That left Kim alone, clutching onto the zither instrument. Her frantic playing of the guzheng had taken their toll. Kim's hands shook, as blood dripped off the tips of her fingers. From the pain, Kim could hazard a guess that her enthusiastic playing had torn off a few nails. 

"Did you actually think you could keep up with me?" Xaio Qing asked condescendingly.

"No," Kim said ruefully. "But at least I tried, right?"

"Xaio Qing!" Shego had rushed back just in time and now she stood in front of the redhead, blocking the heroine from her master. Xaio Qing's mouth drew back in a twisted grimace, trying to hold back her anger. The snake demon kept her lips pressed together, not trusting herself to do anything.

"Stop, please. I was wrong, I wasn't thinking. I shouldn't have left. Just, please, Xaio Qing." Shego knelt down on the ground, begging the furious demoness. Kim watched the back of Shego's head and could feel a fresh onslaught of tears. Shego...

"Mercy, Xaio Qing. My life in exchange for hers."

"No, Shego," Kim whispered.

"You've done enough, Kimmie." Shego turned her head to look at Kim angrily. "Let me do this. You'll leave alive. That's all I want right now."

"Hm." Xaio Qing's rumbling voice was closer.

The twins and Monique burst into the clearing suddenly, charging at Xaio Qing. With a flick of her hand, glowing roots twisted out of the ground and snared the three. The rest of the people in the clearing were secured in similar fashion, allowing Xaio Qing to concentrate on her two disciples. Slithering forward, Xaio Qing cocked her head at the two women.

"You love her, though, yes?" Xaio Qing's face was a flat plane, showing no emotions. Shego's previous experience told her not to let her guard down. When Xaio Qing was in one of her insane temper tantrums, Shego could brace herself for the hurt. Right now, Xaio Qing seemed like she was thinking, calm and composed--which made her more dangerous than ever.

"Xaio Qing--"

The green snake's lips drew up in a snarl. "ANSWER THE QUESTION, SHEGO. DO NOT LIE."

Shego bowed her head and nodded once.

The furious expression on Xaio Qing's face was chased away by sadness. The feeling softened the demoness' features, losing some of its demonic qualities. She looked more like the kind, playful woman Kim had gotten to know in her time at Er Mei.

"Shego." Xaio Qing cupped one side of Shego's face. Shego leaned into that hand out of habit, watching Xaio Qing trustingly, relaxing. The green snake's hand trailed down to Shego's shoulder, her face pulled into an expression of regret. "I never meant to hurt you, I am sorry. I know now you would never want to stay here. You would hate every second of it. And every day here would cause you to love her more and hate me for keeping you, even if you do not hate me now. I know if there was a slim chance that you thought you could escape, you would. You would lie to me, Shego. Did you think I would be able to stand that? You hating me? Did you think I would be able to do that to you? I love you, Shego. I could not."

"What are they saying?" Ron called out to Yinchun, not understanding a word of the Chinese going on between them. Yinchun didn't answer, fixated to the scene before her.

Xaio Qing leaned forward eyes closed and pressed one side of her cheek against Shego's and breathed out a shuttering breath. Tears were streaming out of the demon's eyes. A demon's tears were rare. This particular demon had only known tears once in her lifetime before this. In all her thousands of years of life, she only cried one other time.

When Bai Su Zhen had died.

Wild defiant eyes opened and locked on Kim's, standing behind Shego.

Then Xaio Qing plunged her hand into Shego's chest, her fingers exploding out of the woman's back.

"Shego." Kim's eyes had widened in horror as Xaio Qing let Shego slip off her blood-slicked arm. Tears still falling down her face, Xaio Qing's hand enlarged, disproportionate to her body and caught Kim around the throat before the redhead could even reach out to catch Shego. The guzheng clattered to the ground.

"Your life," Xaio Qing spat out the words as if they were abhorrent to her. She directed her words at a convulsing Shego, who was beyond hearing. "Is worth NOTHING to me now. Your life, yes, I wanted. Your life with vow to me intact. You promised love and loyalty. You loved someone else and your loyalties shifted. Again and again, you broke your word and I turned a blind eye. Your promises to ME, Shego. Without that, even if I have your life, I have nothing. Nothing."

"Shego!" Kim didn't even notice the precarious situation she was in. She just struggled, trying to reach out to Shego. Delirious in her grief, she struggled to get to Shego, sputtering out gibberish in Chinese.

"Kim!" Monique gnashed her teeth in despair and the twins and Ron echoed her cry. There was no use struggling against the restraints Xaio Qing had placed on Team Possible. Kim's attention was focused solely on Shego and she continued talking to the villainess in a mixture of English and Chinese.

"Shego, wo ai ni," Kim wept and blubbered. "Wo ai ni, so don't die..."

Words were cut off quickly as Xaio Qing's fingers tightened around the redhead's throat. Kim didn't struggle, only kept on looking at Shego hopelessly, tears streaming down her face.

"You would not want to be apart from her." Xaio Qing watched Kim close her eyes, the hand around her throat cut off the little air the redhead was getting. "I will send you with her."

"Xaio Qing. Stop."

The green snake dashed away tears from her eyes quickly and turned to glare at the newcomer. A small child.

"Ting Ting... run!" Xaio Qing's grip had loosened slightly at the arrival of the girl and Kim managed to gasp out the warning.

"Tiny mouthful, you are Cheung's daughter, are you not?" Xaio Qing tilted her head to one side. "Go back to your father. I am not in a good mood."

"No." Ting Ting tilted her head to one side. "And no."

"No and no?" Xaio Qing stared curiously at the girl. She seemed strikingly familiar. As if she SHOULD know her. But did not.

"No to your question. And no to your request, Xaio Qing."

"It was not a request. It was a command." Xaio Qing's upper lip pulled back to reveal fangs. "You are not Cheung's daughter?"

"She is not." Nam Ho walked out of the woods, unharmed. Feng and Huang were circling overhead and alighted on an uprooted tree, watching the proceedings with interest.

"I destroyed you." Xaio Qing stared at Nam Ho in confusion. "How are you alive?"

"Me." Ting Ting raised her hand and smiled. "I saved him."

"You?" Xaio Qing laughed hysterically. "That is impossible, a tiny thing like you!"

Ting Ting answered by giving an irritated wave of her hand. Xaio Qing changed into full human form, letting out a squeal of surprise, her sudden change making her fall to the forest floor as her size decreased drastically. Xaio Qing's hand also changed back to regular size, and she dropped Kim on the ground also.

"Shego!" Released, Kim was at Shego's side in a moment. Kim desperately tried to staunch the flow of blood out of Shego's body, crying as she did so. Shego was in so much pain, but she couldn't even scream, she couldn't cry. It took so much energy to just try to live... and Shego wanted to live. But Shego had already lost too much blood and her eyes were dimming, breath shallow and heart sluggish as her body went through the process of dying.

Ting Ting walked over to Shego and crouched down next to the downed woman. Staring at Shego, she placed a hand on the body and concentrated, willing Shego's skin and bones to knit back together. Even as Ting Ting's power rushed back to her, death had a grip on Shego. Ting Ting wanted to weep, but no tears trickled from her eyes as she watched Shego fighting for every second, no matter how painful those seconds were. Every being on this earth, when dying, had that instinctive fear of death and wished to continue living. Shego was not exempt from that instinct, and she gulped in as much air as she could in a bid to delay that inevitable fall, choking on the blood gurgling up her throat, past her lips. All Ting Ting's healing could do now was take away the hurting of Shego's body. There was no way she could detain the soul that was already leaving.

"Rest," Ting Ting said sadly. The choking stopped, and Shego felt an odd kind of catharsis on her body. Those brilliant green eyes darted to look at the young girl in wonder, Shego's reptilian face relaxing as the pain disappeared. Then Shego turned her head to look at Kim and gave her a tearful apologetic smirk before letting out one last rattling breath.

"I'm sorry." said Ting Ting. Feng and Huang let out low mournful cries of dismay.

"Who are you to challenge the master of Er Mei?" Meawhile, Xaio Qing had drawn herself up haughtily, not moving to cover her naked body. Ting Ting tsked and stood up, a sad, indulgent smile on her face.

"Have I not told you, Xaio Qing? When we are in human form, we must wear clothes."

There was confusion on the green snake's face, recognition, then wild happiness. Could it...? No, it couldn't. It had been so long.

"Do you remember me?" Ting Ting asked softly. "Or was I wrong to come back? Have you forgotten me?"

Xaio Qing tried to walk but she dropped to her knees, no longer able to stand upright. Her body folded forward until her head was resting on her knees as memories stabbed through her mind. She hadn't dwelt on them fully for a long time. Sure, she thought about the past often. But to be confronted by something like this. It was unimaginable. "Oh no.. no, no... please... you are not real. You can not... no..."

When she felt a touch on her shoulder, Xaio Qing gave a start and looked up into a familiar face. The child had disappeared, and all there was was Bai Su Zhen.

Lady White Snake. Beautiful, eternal, immaculate.

"Sister?" Xaio Qing dared not touch Bai Su Zhen. The white snake was in a long white dress, trimmed in blue, a white silk coat resting delicately on her shoulders. Taking off her coat, Bai Su Zhen draped it over Xaio Qing, covered Xaio Qing's nakedness. Bai Su Zhen opened her arms and that was the only permission Xaio Qing needed to fall into her sister demon's arms.

"KP." Ron and the others had become mobile again and the blonde man went to his best friend's side and tried to pull Kim off Shego. The redhead had placed her lips over Shego's and was desperately trying to breath life into Shego.

"No time, Ron," Kim's voice was oddly calm as she motioned to Shego's body. "Try to stop the bleeding, we can save her."

Monique knelt beside the woman, watching her sadly trying to do something impossible. "Kim--"

"What are you guys doing!" Kim stopped long enough to scowl at them. "Start helping!"

Yinchun was crying quietly, still sitting near Tigger, not moving from her place as her eyes were fixed on Shego and Kim. The dog had woken up but after trying to stand up--he yelped in pain as he put weight on one of his hind legs--he lay back down. Jim was at his dog's side, one hand on Tigger's neck to make sure he stayed down, watching his sister from the distance.

"Kim, she's dead." Ron tried to pull Kim away, but the redhead turned around and socked Ron across the face, to the astonishment of her friends and family.

"Don't you fucking say that!" Kim hissed, fists clenched at her side. Ron stayed down, hand pressed against his right eye. He could feel it swelling up.

Xaio Qing lifted her face away from Bai Su Zhen's chest, to look at Kim and Shego.

"What have I done?"

Kim kept on trying to revitalize Shego, working up to a feverish pace. Nobody tried to stop her, just watching as Kim finally abandoned her efforts and gathered Shego's limp body into her arms.

"No, no, no... Shego..." It was a long drawn out wail. Kim pressed her lips against Shego's ear, whispering her words mournfully. "Wo di ai ren, ni bu shui jiao, ma? Ni ting bu don? Wo ai ni, Shego. Don't scare me, Shego, please. Wake up, wake up..."

"Is she dead?" Xaio Qing asked mournfully. Kim froze at the sound of Xaio Qing's voice, piercing through her grief. Putting Shego back on the ground gently and closing those unseeing eyes gently, Kim brushed away the twin streaks of dirt on Shego's face, marking the trail of the dead woman's tears. Shego's scaly face had slackened, relaxed as if in sleep.

Shego, Shego, Shego...

No, please. No.

Kim's mouth trembled as a sob tore out of her throat.

God, oh god...

...please...

"What do you think?" Kim asked. Her voice barely squeezed out of her throat. A bitter mix of anger and sorrow seemed to fill her body to overflowing. When Kim thought she could hold no more of that mixture inside of her, she would remember that way that Shego did... something. Anything. A smile, a laugh, an angry snarl. And she felt like her body would burst at the seams. Kim wished her body would burst. Right now she had to satisfy herself with choking out tears, and she let the fire consume her, rather than let the flood inside drown her.

"You killed her." Kim held up her fists, muttering in Chinese. "Now I'm going to kill you."

* * *

endnote: sad, aint it? And this is the end of 'a few new tricks'. Well, no, there's the epilogue to consider too... lol. ahahaha... DON'T KILL ME, PLEASE! 


	31. Epilogue

Epilogue

Kim Possible fanfiction

immo - note: The epilogue. Finally. And to all of you out there who wanna lynch me for last chapter... YOU'LL HAVE TO FIND ME FIRST! runs away

* * *

Bai Su Zhen limped along, rage clouding her features and grief bending her back until she was hunched over. Her state of mind inspired her physical form. As an old beggar, she sat down at the mouth of an alleyway facing a busy street, watching people pass, kicking up the dust.

'Xu Xian, Xu Xian,' Bai Su Zhen watched the people passing in front of her. Children, adults, the elderly, friends, lovers... sisters...

'Xaio Qing,' Bai Su Zhen gnashed her teeth together in anguish as she watched two young girls walking together with their father and mother.

"Hold your sister's hand, alright?" The father kept a close eye on the two as they walked ahead of their parents. The elder of the two sisters could not be more than five years old, and the younger sister could not be more than three. Wide-eyed and wondering, what little hair the younger one had was tied up into pigtails. She was enthusiastically sucking the thumb of one hand while the other hand kept her older sister's forefinger captive in a strong hold.

The young one's eyes wandered to a stall that was selling a kind of clear taffy candy on a stick. "Sis, I want candy."

The older sister put on a thoughtful, grave look. "What do you say?"

"Please?"

"Please what?"

"Please, candy."

The older sister grinned and approached the stall. The man tending the candy stall looked down at the two girls and smiled.

"Oh, I have customers!" The stall owner exclaimed loudly. "And what can I do for you ladies?"

The older sister opened the small pouch that hung around her wrist, in which the tinkling of a few coins could be heard. The grave, thoughtful expression was on her face as she talked to the man. "How much for one taffy, please?"

"Oh, for you, young lady..." the stall owner rubbed his chin. "I have a special price today! One copper for two taffy candies!"

The older sister nodded importantly and produced a single copper coin from her pouch and held it out to the man. "Could I have two, please?"

The man accepted her money with an equally grave expression on his face as the sisters' parents chuckled, watching their two daughters. The man produced two wooden wands and dipped them into the pot of amber liquid, twirling them expertly to collect a big ball of taffy on each stick. He immediately dipped his wares into a bowl of cool water and the soft taffy hardened quickly.

"Here you go, ladies." The man held the two taffy cadies out to the two girls. "Thank you VERY much for your business."

The two girls puffed up with pride and grinned at the man. "You're welcome!"

Bai Su Zhen watched all of this with a bitter expression on her face. Then her eyes fell on a young couple approaching the same stall. The young wife wanted candy and her husband was more than willing to oblige her. An indiscrete bulge in the front of her dress alerted Bai Su Zhen to the fact that this woman was with child.

'Xu Xian,' Bai Su Zhen felt a stab of envy as she watched that young husband. Would he run if he found out his wife was a snake? Bai Su Zhen's eyes fell again to the bulge on the woman's body. Her child... he must have died in the flood. The monk wouldn't have let the child of a demon live. The white snake lurched up and turned towards the darkness of the alleyway.

'My child, my child, I wanted you so much...' Bai Su Zhen mourned the loss of her son, stumbling on things she should see, but didn't. 'Xu Xian, Xu Xian, my husband... Xaio Qing, why?'

Her husband's body had been found and buried, dead too long to resurrect. And even Bai Su Zhen knew an attempted second resurrection would be impossible and would bring the wrath of heaven down on her head. What did she have left? Nobody but Xaio Qing...

"Xaio Qing," Bai Su Zhen tried out the name on her tongue and felt her ire rise. "Xaio Qing..."

She wouldn't go back to Er Mei. She couldn't. A sense of guilt and shame settled on her, but she pushed it away angrily.

"Love conquers all, right?" Bai Su Zhen asked herself. Love always won, didn't it?

She had been so certain she had been in love with Xu Xian. He was her everything. Why didn't love win? Why was he so scared of her when he found out she was a snake? Had she not braved annihilation at the hands of heavenly guardians to win him his life back? Did she not love him enough?

It was Xaio Qing's fault. It had to be. Or else... had she assumed too much about the relationships between humans?

* * *

"Vince?" The young asian woman pushed away from the wall, matching her footsteps to the young Chinese man with the diamond stud in his ear.

"Hey, Sue." Vince grinned at the young woman. "You were waiting for me?"

"Just a little bit." Sue smiled at Vince. "I heard from one of the guys that you are leaving for home?"

"Yeah," Vince nodded, frowning a bit. "My father died."

"I am sorry to hear," Sue said smoothly. "So you will not be coming back?"

"Guess not." Vince shrugged. "Back to my hometown."

"Maybe I could visit some time?" Sue said tentatively.

Vince smiled non-commitally. "Maybe."

The young man changed the subject immediately, and that didn't go unnoticed by Sue. She didn't press the issue though, and chatted with him while walking across the huge campus. It was late at night, so Vince walked his friend home, then trekked it back to the small apartment he had rented out.

The death notice had caught him by surprise, and Vince was upset... but a little bit happy. He had planned to go back to She Cun after he graduated, but now he would just have to go back a little earlier. He dropped his keys on the small table beside the door next to a framed picture as he shrugged out of his coat. England's weather was always a little damp. Vince couldn't wait to get back home.

He picked up the framed picture and couldn't help smiling at the yellowed photograph of the two children in the picture. A little boy and a little girl holding hands. He brushed a thumb over the glass that covered the visage of the little girl. Fong. "I'm coming home."

"I wish you would bring me." A voice startled him. Heart pumping, he crouched down to the ground and pressed himself against the wall so the table blocked him from view. A prowler? Well, they had messed with the wrong guy.

"Vince, its me." The prowler's voice was very familiar. And it was a girl?

Vince poked his head out cautiously. "Who is it?"

"Suzanne."

"Sue!" Vince breathed out a sigh of relief and stoof up, flicking on the lights. "What are you doing he--"

The words died in his throat as he caught sight of Suzanne. Vince had to admit that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life, and that included Fong. But now, looking at her decked out in flowing Chinese robes that seemed like they came right out of some long-dead dynasty of China, she was practically divine.

"Sue..." Was all Vince managed to say before he fell to the ground, unconscious. Suzanne smiled kindly at the unconscious young man. It had been such a surprise to sense her blood flowing through this young man and the scent of Xaio Qing's protection on him. To know that he was one of her descendants. So her son survived? She had thought he had died...

"Xaio Qing." Bai Su Zhen tried the name on her lips before she knelt down and checked the young man over to make sure he hadn't been hurt in the fall. She practically tingled from the thought of seeing her sister again. But what if Xaio Qing didn't want to see her? She didn't want to go and be turned away from the only person she had left in the world.

"A little reconnaisance, then." Bai Su Zhen bent down and whispered in Vince's ear.

A breeze blew in from the window and Cheung sat up, startled awake.

'What... what am I doing on the floor?' The Chinese man stood up and rubbed his head gingerly. He felt... like someone had stuffed a lot of cotton in his head. But he quickly shook out of his stupor when he heard the sound of a baby crying from the other room.

"Daddy's here, daddy's here." Cheung walked into the bedroom, his eyes quickly falling on a beautiful baby sitting in the middle of the bed, swaddled in the bed linen. He quickly picked her up into his arms, patting her back comfortingly.

"Its okay, Ting Ting. Daddy's right here." Cheung bounced the baby a little bit until her cries turned into mewling sobs. Finally, she fell asleep, her head resting trustingly on her father's shoulder.

* * *

Kim's forehead was pressed against the plane window. Unseeing eyes, red from crying, looked out at clouds.

"Kim, you want a drink? I'm gonna get one and check on Jim and Tim." Monique put a hand over Kim's. The redhead didn't answer. "Alright, then. You just chill, girlfriend. Ron," The blonde man sitting across the way looked up with his one good eye. "Wanna watch her?"

"Sure, Monique." Ron sat down in Monique vacated seat. Pushing up the armrest, he pulled an unresisting Kim into his arms and held her in a protective embrace. Kim turned to hide her face in Ron's neck, and Kim's shoulders started shaking, signalling a fresh onslaught of tears.

"I gotcha Kim," Ron stroked her hair, understanding that the violence in which Shego had been taken was shocking. To all of them. But he didn't know why Kim seemed inconsolable. Sure, it was bad that someone died, but better a bad guy than a good guy.

Kim had given an explanation, leaving out the mention of her relationship with Shego. Team Possible had seen, in that final fight how Shego and Kim were close, but they didn't guess at how close they had been. All they knew was the barest of details that Kim told them, how Shego needed someone to take her place up at Er Mei with Xaio Qing and Shego had redeemed herself by sending Kim away. The rest, they had been a part of. The failed rescue attempt. Kim gave a passing mention on how Shego and her had become friends at that time.

Close friends. But just friends.

Kim Possible didn't want anyone to know. The dialogue Kim, Shego and Xaio Qing had exchanged during the fight was all foreign to Team Possible, so they didn't have a clue. And Kim would keep it that way. It was something she wanted to guard, not because she was ashamed of it; but because it was something she had with Shego, something they shared together. She didn't want to share it with anyone else. The few people that knew were more than enough for Kim.

Monique left the passenger compartment to another room on the private jet that had a kitchenette. Pouring two coffees, one black and one with cream and sugar, she headed to the cockpit. Jim and Tim were flying the aircraft. The matriarch of She Cun had given it to them.

"Here," Monique handed the black coffee to Jim. Tim had fallen asleep on the co-pilot's chair, and Jim didn't have the heart to wake him up. Monique leaned against the pilot chair and looked out the window at the broad expanse of sky while sipping at her own coffee. "I never get sick of seeing this."

"Yeah." Jim put his coffee in the cupholder by the side and held up one hand. Monique grasped it in her own, didn't see it, but knew Jim's cheeks must've dimpled in a smile at the warm pressure. "How's Tigger and Rufus?"

"Tigger and Rufus are both sleeping it off. We'll have to take them both to a vet when we get back to Middleton and make sure they're okay. The splint we made for Tigger should hold for a bit til we get some real help."

Jim nodded absentmindedly. "And the Blue Man Group drop-out?"

"Drakken's still in the back, sleeping off the knockout shot we gave him." Monique tapped Jim's head with her mug. "Really. Lay off right now, okay? So not a good time."

"Yeah, sorry." Jim ducked his head and winced. "Bad timing, huh?"

"Don't let Kim hear you saying anything stupid, dunno what she'll do." Monique sighed. "Might even kick your sorry ass."

"I'm sorry, really. It'll take me a while... I dunno. It's just... I spent more than two years blaming Drakken and Shego." Jim shook his head angrily, humiliated at the fact that he could be so wrong. "its kinda hard to knock out of it, but I'm trying."

"That's all I'm asking for, Jimmy." Monique sighed. They both fell silent, dwelling on the past days' events.

The residents of She Cun had received the returned Bai Su Zhen and Xaio Qing with joy at first, but the joy had quickly been extinguished by the grief everyone felt when they saw what they brought down from the mountain. After the initial shock, they had moved Shego back to her house in the village.

"Ting Ting?" Fong asked Bai Su Zhen hoarsely. Her ex-lover dead. Her adopted child gone. How do you cope with these sudden drastic losses in your life?

Cheung couldn't look at Bai Su Zhen and kept his eyes averted from the white snake's body, flinching when Bai Su Zhen started speaking.

"Ting Ting never was." Bai Su Zhen had the decency to look ashamed. "I was always here. I told Cheung on the way down Er Mei... he had never had a child. He had never married before you. I weaved a spell so he would think that. So he would bring me into She Cun without suspicion."

Lo po-po stared at the two demons sternly, her face was ashen. The body had been wrapped in a sheet before it was brought down, so not many people had gotten a clear view of what had happened to the dead woman. When they were in the privacy of Shego's house, Lo po-po had immediately knelt down to pull back the cloth that enshrouded the corpse. The matriarch almost wished she hadn't.

Lo po-po drew back with a strangled gasp. She hadn't seen Shego after her scales became apparent, so Shego's reptilian face was a shock to the old woman. The sheet was peeled back with trepidition now, and it seemed impossible, but Lo po-po's face grew paler and paler as she glimpsed the gaping wound in Shego's chest and the numerous injuries inflicted on Shego's person.

"My child, my child..." Lo po-po moaned. She touched Shego's cool brow tentatively, the old woman's face was constricted with emotions as she addressed her ancestor. "Where were you all this time, Bai Su Zhen? We had... the stories said you died."

"I was... away." Bai Su Zhen picked her words carefully. "I came back now only because I chanced across Cheung. I had thought I would never come back to Er Mei. Imagine my surprise, when after my life was nothing more than a legend, I recognized one of my descendants..." Throughout the conversation, Xaio Qing clung onto Bai Su Zhen, fearfully casting her eyes around at the people that surrounded her, and some times whimpering when she caught sight of Shego's body.

"Cheung made me realize I missed my sister and it was time to reconcile. I was not really ready to face Xaio Qing, though, so I cast an enchantment on myself that would last six years and allow me to be in She Cun and see what Xaio Qing has been up to without being detected. For six years, I was disguised as Ting Ting. I could not change back or use my powers, nor could I access that part of me that was Bai Su Zhen. I was in mind and body, a child. If I had known this would happen..." Bai Su Zhen trailed off helplessly. How could she have known?

"Time to reconcile... it was a little late, wasn't it?" Lo po-po spat out the words, trembling with righteous fury. Bai Su Zhen accepted the admonishments impassively. Yes, she deserved it. Homecoming was bittersweet, almost too painful to bear. But Xaio Qing made it okay. Beloved Xaio Qing who never wavered. Centuries of wandering, and finally Bai Su Zhen had come back to her home even though she had wanted to run away. Wondered many times in her wandering if Xaio Qing was alive and found it harder and harder to think of Xaio Qing with anything other than a great yearning.

"How could this..." Cheung started, then stopped. He couldn't even get the words out. His daughter. He wanted his daughter back. "I don't understand. How could you?"

"I meant no harm," Bai Su Zhen raised her hand up in a pleading gesture. Even though she wasn't Ting Ting anymore, she still retained the memories of her previous form and it was hard not to fall into old habits. "Ba-ba--"

"Don't call me father." Cheung said wearily. "I... can't have you call me that. I changed your diapers, I fed you, I watched you grow up for six years. How could you do that to somebody?"

Cheung's voice rose steadily until he was almost shouting at Bai Su Zhen, and still, the white snake stood there and let him.

"I am sorry." Bai Su Zhen whispered. Her children were yelling at her. When she had first cast the spell on herself, she had imagined how happy everybody would be at the end of it, the surprise she would've given them. How could she have been so wrong?

Lo po-po gently pulled sheet back up over Shego's body, wiping away the tears that were staining her cheek. "I'm sorry, but Lady White Snake, Lady Green Snake... give us time to grieve for Shego and bury her. Then we have to talk."

Bai Su Zhen agreed and left with Xaio Qing after some final words with grandma Lo. That had been a few days ago. Now, the village was draped in white as people grieved.

"Even when its a funeral, I can't help admiring how pretty everything looks." Kim commented. Fong and Kim stayed with the body. They were in Shego's house, with Shego's body resting in between them. Fong and Kim had attended to the first part of the funeral preparations. Shego's body was washed with a damp cloth, dusted with talcum powder and dressed in her best clothes. Fong had wanted Shego to wear a silk cheongsam, while Kim wanted the dead woman to be dressed in the green and black jumpsuit she always wore when fighting. The two reached a compromise, finding a black cheongsam in Shego's stash of clothes with dark green designs sewn tastefully all over it. A yellow cloth covered Shego's face from view while a light blue one covered her body. A white cloth hung from the doorway of the house, signalling to everyone who passed that there was a death in the household.

"You're not staying for the funeral?" Fong asked.

Kim shook her head and reached out to touch Shego's covered arm. It was... comforting. To have that physical connection there. "I can't stay. I don't think I can bear seeing her go into the ground."

Fong bowed her head, understanding her completely. Both women felt the tears well up again. Since Shego's death, the two women gravitated towards each other and preferred each other's company to anybody else's, shunning even their closest friends and family. It was that one factor both of them shared that made the two seek each other out. They both had loved Shego.

"When I get back, I'll tell her brothers right away." Kim smiled, remembering how Shego had tried to keep the fondness out of her voice on one of those rare occassions when she talked about her siblings. "They might try to haul her back--"

"We won't let them." Fong said firmly. Back when Shego had first stumbled into She Cun, and her and Fong were just starting to become friends, Shego had brought up the subject of ceremonies and rituals.

"Superstitious bunch, aren't you?" Shego smirked. Fong let out a long-suffering sigh. The green-eyed woman seemed to rejoice in annoying her.

"Whatever you say, Shego." droned Fong. It was laundry day, and she was scrubbing away while Shego lounged around watching her and making stupid comments. But Shego was good company. "Are you going to help me? Some of these clothes are yours."

"Hey, you look like you're doing just fine." Shego took out a nail file that she seemed to constantly have with her, and starting filing away. "Plus, these hands are high-maintanence."

"You're just lazy." Fong grumbled some other choice words as she rinsed a shirt.

"Anyways," Shego started talking again, as if she hadn't heard Fong's scathing remarks. "What do you guys do for funerals here?"

"Why do you ask?" Fong looked up curiously from her work. Shego jumped down from the boulder she had been sitting on and helped Fong tuck away several strands of hair that had fallen in the asian woman's face. Fong blushed at the casual touches. At the beginning, after Shego found out what an ice queen Fong was known to be, the villainess delighted in giving the other woman lingering touches and invading her personal space. Fong had gotten used to Shego's blatant disregard for the asian woman's comfort zone, and now--to her own chagrin--Fong even enjoyed the attention she received.

"Lo po-po was talking about her funeral. And how she wants a lavish one."

"Don't listen to her," Fong barked out a laugh. "She'll live longer than ALL of us."

"Yeah, I'll probably die before her." Shego crouched down next to Fong. Picking up a smooth, flat stone, Shego chucked it into the river and watched in satisfaction as it skipped across the surface of the water. Fong watched Shego, the sarcasm gone, serious for once. "If I die, I want to be buried in She Cun. Can you promise me that? I don't want my brothers to just have me entombed underneath Go Tower. Being there with them even when I die, god, that would be horrible."

"Oh, I thought the mighty Shego was invincible." Fong teased, flicking a bit of sudsy water at Shego.

"Guess you were wrong about that, huh?" Kim laughed bitterly after Fong's tale and got up. "I have to go."

"You're welcome back any time." Fong dragged her eyes from the floor to look at Kim determinedly. "Shego would like it if you came back to see her."

Kim's brave smile trembled. "I'll try."

The redhead left that house, possibly for the last time and took a deep breath of incense-laced air. Kim knew she wouldn't be able to come back. If it meant visiting Shego's grave and just having this horrible feeling of drowning... Kim made it a good few houses away from Shego's place, before she couldn't take it anymore and dropped to the ground to catch her breath. The heroine had a sense that if she held it all inside, she would definitely drown, so she let the tears fall unchecked.

"Shego," Kim sobbed out the name and slammed her fist into the ground, punctuating each time she said Shego's name with a vicious jab to the earth. "Shego..."

* * *

Nam Ho rubbed his shaved head ruefully. "I didn't know about Ting Ting---Bai Su Zhen, actually, until the very end, when she saved me. I suspected there was something more to her when she sought me out to go save Shego... but I had no idea."

"I'm still..." Cheung shook his head, not knowing how to feel. "I don't know how to... I mean, one day I had a daughter, the next, she wasn't. I feel like crying, but she's not really gone... and she wasn't really there."

Nam Ho patted his brother on the shoulders. "Its like your whole world is turned upside down, right? You're feeling exactly what I felt when the monks told me Xaio Qing and She Cun weren't held in the highest regard to outsiders. It burned me and I was so bothered by what they said that I left She Cun to find things out for myself. But even before I left, I knew they had told me the truth..."

Cheung felt like something had lodged in his chest. "Its hard to take in."

Nam Ho nodded. "Then you had to think: was it really Xaio Qing's fault? We're partly responsible. If only she had abandoned us, or we had left. But we were spoiled by her, like a grown child refusing to leave the nest and make its way in the world. Everything was provided for us here. We should have had to struggle like everyone else does to survive, except we had a great big snake watching us. Aren't we tainted by the lives she took for our welfare? She was chained here because of us." Nam Ho said soberly. The truth didn't affect him as much any more, but Cheung seemed to look more uncomfortable by the second. "I dedicated myself to She Cun, you know? Before the monks talked some sense into me, I was wholeheartedly devoted to our way of life. What happens when you've lived your life thinking you were in the right but all along you were horribly wrong? And if we had just... died away. Maybe none of this would've happened."

"Why didn't you try to tell us?" Cheung asked his older brother.

"Would any of you have listened? I tried, but I also realized that She Cun has a... tendency to attack first and ask questions later. Maybe I should have come back to She Cun before I shaved my head." Nam Ho smiled sadly. "Would've's, could've's, should've's."

"Shego shouldn't have died." Cheung grit out between his teeth.

Nam Ho smiled sadly at his brother. "She Cun thinks really highly of Shego, don't they?"

"We do. She can be really... angry some times. But she's a good person." Cheung suddenly had a flashback of Shego, crouched down and playing rock-paper-scissor with a pig-tailed three year old Ting Ting. Both child and woman gone. The brothers sat there in silence until Cheung suddenly slapped his hand down on the table.

"Okay, maybe its a stupid idea, but..." Cheung had a growing look of excitement on his face as something occurred to him. "The phoenixes you told me about... would they be able to... resurrect Shego? Or am I pulling things from western mythology? We would do anything--"

Nam Ho shook his head. "They can... but they can't. Phoenixes only come out during peaceful times, and for them to appear during these troubling times is already a huge favour. They are divine and a different breed of immortals. They, especially, follow the rules to the letter. Don't make me explain the rules or the complicated minds of divinity, because I know only the little I'm telling you now. The best I can explain to you is that they... have a sort of quota set on them limiting their interaction with mortals and certain guidelines on what type of interaction is allowed and what isn't. Once they hit the quota, Feng and Huang leave for a while. They've already gone above and beyond in helping us."

Cheung fell into disappointed silence. Nam Ho reached over and patted his brother on the arm. "Don't think I didn't ask them, because I did... but resurrection has some serious consequences to the order of things. Only in very, VERY extreme cases will they do it. And this, unfortunately isn't one of those extremes. They wanted to, but they just can't."

Nam Ho got up from his seat and looked up at the rafters of the house he had grown up in. It was odd being back in She Cun. But it was home. He was so happy to be back home, even though the events that lead up to his homecoming was tragic. That look of agony on Kim's face would definitely remain with him for a long time.

"I'm going to kill you." Kim had said those words with such a finality, that it convinced those who understood her that she meant what she said.

Xaio Qing didn't reply, instead, she hid her face back in Bai Su Zhen's chest. The white snake held her sister posessively, stroking the green snake's head comfortingly and whispering soft words to her.

"It will be okay," Kim caught some of those words that Bai Su Zhen spoke. "It will be okay."

Kim walked unsteadily towards them, her fingers aching to wrap around Xaio Qing's neck and throttle her slowly. She froze in her steps though when Bai Su Zhen's clear green eyes caught her in their gaze. Thoughtful green eyes. Mature and sad. A wealth of lifetimes underneath those searching eyes.

"Would you kill my sister? I know it is unbelievable that I ask for this but I beg for the life of my sister." Her lilting Chinese was touched with accents. She spoke like a softer, gentler Shego and Kim found herself struck by how alike they were. Maybe the shape of her eyes? The shape of her face? Maybe it was something that couldn't be discerned by the eyes? There was something undeniable Shego-ish about Bai Su Zhen.

"No." Kim found herself shaking her head violently. "No. She has to die."

Bai Su Zhen let out a sigh and stood up, breaking eye contact with Kim. "I cannot change your mind? I could offer you riches--"

"Don't you dare!" Kim screamed. She was livid with anger now. "Don't you DARE try to buy yourself a guilt-free conscience!"

"I was not." Bai Su Zhen said quietly. "But if this is your will. If Xaio Qing dies, you will be happy? You cannot kill her, you know. My sister has gained some immunity to normal means of death. She is partly immortal. And though she has always been lazy, I see she has taken time to practise and become decent in the arts. You will not kill her easily."

"I'll try until I succeed." Kim snapped back.

Bai Su Zhen drew a shining line in the air in front of her. Then she stuck her hand within that line and pulled out a long gleaming sword. Kim and Team Possible immediately tensed, at the ready for a fight.

"Not for you." The white snake shook her head. She drew a forked sword from the single sheath and let it rest on top of Xaio Qing's neck. Blood started welling up from where the sword touched Xaio Qing's neck and the green snake flinched letting out a low moan, but didn't move from her bowed position. "It is my fault, you know. All of this. If I had been here..."

Kim watched, transfixed at the scene, at the blood dripping down Xaio Qing's neck. Hungry and needing this sacrifice.

"She is a child. She did not know any better." Bai Su Zhen held out her free hand to Xaio Qing. The green snake grasped it and kissed it fervently, her face constricted with remorse. Bai Su Zhen smiled sadly at Xaio Qing, but beyond that, Xaio Qing's impending death didn't seem to affect the older snake as much as it should.

"I am sorry... I am sorry..." Xaio Qing choked out.

"She's like a rabid dog." Kim's face looked like it was set in stone. "And rabid dogs need to be put down."

"And I am the owner of this mad dog." Bai Su Zhen whispered. "So is it my responsibility to put down my pet? Because of my neglect..."

Lady White Snake regretfully tore her hand out of the green snake's and raised her sword--

"You can't!" Yinchun called out, desperate to stay Bai Su Zhen's hand. She had heard about Bai Su Zhen from Xaio Qing, and she had expected more of a reaction from the white snake. More of a compassionate Bai Su Zhen. But if no-one was going to speak for Xaio Qing, she would! Xaio Qing was Yinchun's friend! One of the fox's first memories was that of the green snake's laugh in her ears. Warm arms that carried her back to her mother. Solid food. Caressing strokes on her head. "She is Xaio Qing. She did everything because she thought it was right. She was lonely, she was alone. Spare her for my sake, Kim. Please."

"Spare her? For your sake?" Kim laughed, delirious with grief. "Why should I?"

"You owe us nothing." Bai Su Zhen kept her eyes on Xaio Qing, drinking in the sight of the green snake, head bowed as if before an executioner's axe. Bai Su Zhen touched Xaio Qing's forehead with the tips of her fingers, with her hand that wasn't holding the sword above Xaio Qing's head. That simple touch belied the raw tenderness the White Snake was trying to hide, and Xaio Qing tilted her face up and smiled happily at Bai Su Zhen, despite the situation. How could Xaio Qing be sad when she's wished for this forever? To see Bai Su Zhen again, even if it meant her death.

"Sorry... sorry..." Xaio Qing could only murmur those words now. She would accept this, because it was fair. Bai Su Zhen was going to kill her, and it would be fair. Bai Su Zhen had taught her what fair was. How did she forget? Was it that long ago when Bai Su Zhen lectured her on the intricacies of morality? How could she have forgotten?

Kim didn't answer and refused to look at the abbot. But when Bai Su Zhen drew back, ready to strike again, Kim held up a hand.

"Stop." The redhead croaked out hoarsely. Kim dropped to her knees in dejection. She couldn't do it.

Kim Possible was a hero.

Kim Possible didn't kill, no matter what.

No matter what.

Bai Su Zhen wasted no time in casting her weapon aside and gathering up Xaio Qing in a fierce hug, her stoic mask dropped. Bai Su Zhen had been set on doing the right thing... a life for a life... and for the owner of this beloved mad dog, there was no greater punishment for the owner than destroying the last and only thing she cared about in this world. Sweet relief showed on Bai Su Zhen's face as she hugged Xaio Qing as close as possible, sending the younger snake demon bawling again. The relief of being able to stay together, of knowing they wouldn't be seperated again overwhelmed the green snake.

"Never leave you," Bai Su Zhen promised Xaio Qing. "I will never leave you again."

"Sorry," Xaio Qing blubbered. "I am sorry..."

"Well, we're going to hold a funeral for Shego. I've sent a message to my monastery, we'll send her off in style." Nam Ho was about to leave for Shego's house when Cheung reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his brother's robe.

"For what its worth, I'm sorry." Cheung said awkwardly. "I didn't know anything--"

"No apologies. We all did what we thought was right at the time." Nam Ho rubbed his brother's peach fuzz head and grinned. "Grow some hair. Or are you trying to emulate your older brother?"

"Ha, yeah right. An ugly monk?" Cheung joked. Then, suddenly became nervous. "Dai lo... you.. wanna see your nephew?"

Nam Ho's face brightened. "Really? You'd let me?"

"Of course," Cheung grinned. "He's at Cho gon-gon's place right now. Lo po-po says he looks sorta like you when you were a baby."

Eagerly, the two brothers left, pushing aside the the unpleasant past for the moment. There was always the future; they would just have to live one day at a time and find a way to redeem their wretched lives.

* * *

"You two again?" One of the guardians of Kunlun mountain pointed his spear at the two unwelcome guests. His armour of pristine white feathers fluttered in the breeze. Though the clothing looked fragile, the two women knew from a previous encounter that it wasn't so. And the silver and white spear, though beautiful in design, was sharp and unforgiving.

"What a rude reception," The younger one said cheerfully. "Did you not miss us?"

"What business do you have here?" A woman dressed in the dappled pelt of a deer asked. A sword, enclosed in a velvetty brown sheath hung by her side and she had a hand on its hilt, ready to draw. "The two of us had thought we might have seen the last of the two of you, Bai Su Zhen and Xaio Qing. In fact, we had heard through the grapevines that you were dead, Lady White Snake?"

"Apparently, you heard wrong, Lady Lu."

"I did not know we were going to have guests. You should have called beforehand, my lady." The deer guardian, for that was what she was, spoke curtly. "We would have prepared for you."

"Oh nono, we wanted to surprise you!" Xaio Qing chuckled. "We were so pleased with your treatment last time we came back for more."

"I remember last time," The spear-wielding crane guardian chuckled unpleasantly. "Came back for more indeed. Would we be right to assume you came back for the same thing?"

"You would be correct, sir." Bai Su Zhen drew that shining line in the air and retrieved her sword. "I remembered the pleasant dance we had last time. When we win we shall claim our prize."

"IF you win, Lady Bai Su Zhen." The guardian deer purred. "IF. We have not had the pleasure of your company in a while. I insist, this time you stay a while. Maybe," The guardian's voice turned nasty, "indefinitely. Your bones would do to nourish the herb you plan to steal."

"The lingzhi herb is meant to be used. Why let it just sit on a mountainside?" Xaio Qing clapped her hands together and spread them apart, revealing her own sword. "We would put it to good use."

"This herb is not for mortals!" The feathered man snapped.

Xaio Qing asked prettily, "Please give it to us?"

"No!" Was the reply from the guardians.

"As I thought." Bai Su Zhen drew her blade. "We will have to do this the hard way."

"The only reason you got the lingzhi herb last time was through divine intervention. I do not think any of the immortals will come to your aid this time." The feathered man said with a smirk. "This time, you will die."

"We will win." Xaio Qing struck a pose, determined. Nothing will stop her. She HAD to win.

Defying laws of physic, Lady Lu drew out a gnarled sword from her straight sheath. Instead of steel though, the sword looked like it was made of bone. "What makes you think you will win this time? Care to share?"

"Why of course," Bai Su Zhen laughed lightly, back to back with Xaio Qing. "Let us show you a few new tricks we have learned."

* * *

END OF 'A FEW NEW TRICKS'

Thank you all for reading. It's been a long and hard journey, and I thank you all for your kindness, your encouragements and your criticism.

And now, for a big author's note.

This whole series could not have been possible without Tsui Hark's 'Green Snake' to inspire me. I watched the movie, and it spoke to me. What if... Kim Possible was thrown into the legend of Lady White Snake? So I started the first chapter of 'a few new tricks' to see where it would take me. I was inspired, but not particularly motivated to continue what I had started until people started reviewing and asking me if there was a continuation. Of course, who was I to deny my readers? So I continued the story, sorta fearing that I might stop half-way. But I'm DONE. Thank god.

Xaio Qing and Bai Su Zhen's backstory, character and personality are almost purely taken from 'Green Snake'. I would write an in-depth psychological profile on the two, but watching the movie and experiencing the superb acting of the two actresses as Bai Su Zhen and Xaio Qing would explain what motivates the two characters. I totally recommend this movie. I'm serious. Do yourself a favour and watch it. By the way, seems like the Kiwis are making a movie based on the legend called 'Lady White Snake' for a western audience. The Kiwis are doing a joint venture with Taiwan and are gonna start filming October 2006 and its slated to be released in 2008 before(during?) the Olympics in Beijing. I'm kinda excited...

I was gonna translate the Chinese that I have in the past chapters, but I don't think I'll do it. I'm leaving it like it is because I think it frustrates my readers who want to know what's being said. I think it gives readers the frustration Kim is basically feeling when she first arrives and she can't make head or tails of anything.

Yinchun, the fox demon is inspired by the movie 'Wu Yen' that stars Anita Mui(R.I.P, sistah. you rocked asian cinema), Cecilia Cheung and last but not least, Sammi Cheng. In this movie, Sammi stars as Wu Yen the woman warrior who is fated to marry a useless emperor played by Anita Mui. Yes, I said Anita Mui. The emperor and the warrior both accidentally free a fox enchantress that promptly falls in love with Wu Yen. But when Wu Yen refuses to love Yinchun, Yinchun decides to get back at Wu Yen by seducing the emperor.

And hilarity ensues.

So the character of Yinchun in 'a few new tricks' is NOT the Yinchun in the movie 'Wu Yen', but is instead a young niece who is named after her trouble-making aunt. But pretty much is one and the same in character and personality.

Tigger is a based off a real German Shepherd dog, MY dog, actually. This is a nod to him cuz he was the best pet anybody could ever ask for. Rest in peace, baby boy. You were the best German Shepherd that ever was and you'll be the dog I compare all other dogs to.

Now, a thank you to all of you who left reviews or sent emails to encourage me along. Pat yourself on the back. I can't say enough how much your little missives meant to me. Yes. Even the ones that threatened kill me in my sleep. ahahaha... YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!

I don't like giving out special mentions, but I guess some of you who have been following for the longest time deserve it, especially the ones who have been reading my stuff before 'a few new tricks'. ... so... thank you, thank you, thank you. All your reviews, even the criticisms, are appreciated. Don't think I don't know who you are, cuz I miss you guys when I don't hear from you and I wonder if I've done something wrong and I get really insecure. lol. So drop me a line after the epilogue ;)

Now I'm gonna take some time to work on some of my stuff that's just been sitting around on my harddrive.


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